•  J  IP 


The  Old  Corner  Bo«k 

Store,  Inc. 
Boston,  ;   -    ,  Mass. 


THE  WOMEN 

OF 

THE  GAEL 

By 

JAMES  F.  GASSIDY,  B.  A. 


•  COLLEtE  LIBRARY 

I^Wl^NUT  HILL,  MASS. 

1922 

THE   STRATFORD  COMPANY 
Publishers 
BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS 


Copyright,  1922 

The  STRATFORD  CO.,  Publishers 
Boston.  Mass. 


127768 


The  Alpine  Press,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


The  author  wishes  to  thank  The  Mac  Millan 
Publishing  Company,  Messrs.  Funk  and  Wagnalls,  Mr. 
Padraic  Colum  and  Mr.  Seumas  Mac  Manus  for  per- 
mission to  reprint  certain  poems  included  in  this 
Volume. 


Contents 


Chapter  Page 

1 

I 

In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  War  . 

7 

II 

The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 

18 

III 

The  Objects  of  Men's  Keverence 

30 

IV 

Feminine  Morality  in  Pagan  Days 

43 

V 

When  Saints  Were  Numerous 

54 

VI 

Women  of  Action  from  the  Ninth  to  the 

Seventeenth  Century  .... 

74 

VII 

Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to 

Elizabeth  

100 

VIII 

Devotion  to  Letters  from  the  Sixth  to  the 

Eighteenth  Century  .... 

122 

IX 

Heroines  from  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day  132 

X 

Womanly  Morality  and  Honour  from  the 

Sixteenth  Century  Onwards  . 

169 

XI 

Writers  of  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 

181 

XII 

The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  To-day 

198 

\ 


Prefatory  Note 


IT  IS  proper  that  a  country  that  has  taken  for  itself  the 
most  feminine  representation  should  have  a  book  devoted 
to  the  eulogy  of  its  womanhood.  "The  Women  of  the 
Gael"  renders  justice — even  romantic  justice — to  the  woman- 
hood of  the  country  whose  representations  are  Dark  Rosaleen, 
and  Kathleen  ni  Houlihan,  and  The  Poor  Old  Woman.  Its 
writer  has  made  of  it  a  long  roll  of  honor,  a  roll  of  women  with 
beautiful  names  who  have  been  remembered  for  their  piety, 
their  learning,  and  their  patriotism :  It  is  distinctly  a  Legend 
of  Good  Women. 

Little  is  said  of  another  type  of  woman  that  has  been 
celebrated  from  f ar-of  times  in  Ireland  —  the  woman  whose 
virtue  was  in  her  overflowing  energy,  the  woman  whose  type 
is  Queen  Maeve,  bearer  of  warrior  children,  herself  a  warrior 
and  a  great  lover.  And  naturally  in  a  Legend  of  Good  Women 
nothing  would  be  said  of  that  woman  of  the  O'Briens  who,  on 
coming  back  to  her  castle,  finds  the  women  lamenting  for  her 
husband  slain  in  battle,  and  says  "Dead  men  are  no  use  to  us 
here,"  and  rides  back  to  the  battle-line,  and  there  and  then 
marries  the  general  of  the  opposing  army.  Little  is  said  of  the 
women  of  that  type :  The  Women  of  the  Gael  who  are  spoken 
of  have  their  names  on  the  roll  for  being  guardians  of  the 
national  virtue  and  custodians  of  the  Gaelic  civilization. 

The  conquest  of  Ireland  —  or  rather,  the  repeated  half- 
conquests  of  the  country  —  inflicted  an  especial  wrong  upon 
the  Women  of  the  Gael.  Peculiarly  fitted  as  they  were  for  a 
brilliant  social  life  and  for  artistic  enterprise  of  every  kind, 
they  were,  with  the  exception  of  pri\dleged  ones,  deprived 
of  a  life  that  might  have  such  manifestations.  It  was 
theirs  to  spiritualize  as  harsh  conditions  as  were  any- 
where. A  single  glimpse  is  often  revealing,  and  we  have 
seen  Connacht  women  come  in  from  working  in  the  fields. 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

stand  by  a  little  window,  and  with  hands  that  have  labored  out- 
side, work  the  delicate  lace  that  is  to  become  the  possession  of 
some  radiant  lady  at  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  And  we  have 
often  heard  from  women  who  have  finished  such  double  tasks 
such  wit  and  poetry  as  one  would  listen  for  in  vain  in  the 
drawing  room  of  the  radiant  lady.  That  clever  observer  of 
European  life,  Max  O^Rell,  placed  Europe^s  most  charming- 
women  in  Hungary  and  in  Ireland.  "In  the  drawing  rooms  of 
Buda-Pesth,"  he  said.  And  he  was  compelled  to  add  "In  the 
potato-fields  of  Ireland." 

The  conquest  of  Ireland  is  being  repealed,  and  the  democ- 
racy of  Ireland  is  emerging  towards  the  brilliant  social  life  and 
the  artistic  enterprise  that  the  women  of  Ireland  are  so  well 
fitted  for.  And,  as  Father  Cassidy  has  shown,  the  women  of 
the  Gael  well  deserve  a  place  in  that  redeemed  democracy,  for 
it  is  largel}^  due  to  them  —  to  their  inspiration,  their  heroic 
memory,  their  courage,  their  actual  combativeness,  that  the 
emancipation  has  been  achieved.  It  it  due  to  them  that  Ireland 
has  remained  Irish  and  Gaelic.  The  women  always  had  more 
than  a  single  share  of  the  racial  heritage,  and  the  Norse  and 
the  Normans  and  the  English  who  married  with  them  found 
that  their  children  had  it  in  them  to  become  "Kindly  Irish  of 
the  Irish." 

Another  observer  of  Europe  —  Dr.  Brandes,  I  think  —  has 
noted  that  in  Germanic  countries  the  men,  in  terms  of  per- 
sonality, are  superior  to  the  women;  that  in  Latin  countries 
men  and  women  are  equal,  and  in  Slavonic  countries  —  he  was 
thinking  especially  of  Poland  —  the  women  are  superior  to  the 
men.  Ireland  in  this  regard  is  like  Latin  Europe  —  indeed  in 
some  parts  she  is  close  to  Slavonic  Europe.  Again  let  us  go 
to  the  most  Gaelic  part  of  Europe  —  to  Connacht.  There  the 
men  are  certainly  not  superior  to  the  women;  the  women,  in 
terms  of  personality  have  the  ascendency.  This  may  be  due, 
not  to  a  racial  heritage,  but  to  local  circumstances,  for  the 
sma.llness  of  the  fields  in  a  place  where  one  works  only  with 
the  spade,  gives  the  man  little  room  for  development.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  the  women  in  Connacht  have  the  ascendency. 


Prefatory  Note 


and  this  ascendency  has  left  a  spiritual  mark  —  in  the  beautiful  \ 
and  poignant  songs  that  express  the  woman's  side  in  love,  and 
in  the  number  of  words  in  the  language  the  use  for  the  things 
that  are  especially  in  the  woman's  care  —  the  number  of  words 
for  "child"  for  instance.  The  Gaelic  civilization  as  we  see  it 
in  Connacht  is  distinctly  a  feminine  civilization. 

Even  if  we  had  no  record  in  history  of  the  status  of  women 
in  Ireland,  we  could  judge  that  it  was  high  from  saga  and 
romance,  and  from  those  naive  reconstructions  of  history  that 
early  peoples  make.  The  epic  tale  and  the  sagas  show  women 
moving  with  more  freedom  than  they  have  in  Homer  and  more 
freedom  than  they  have  in  the  Germanic  sagas.  The  very 
names  for  Ireland  —  Eire,  Banba,  Fodhla,  were  taken  from 
the  three  queens  that  the  Milesian  adventurers  found  in 
Ireland.  All  this  would  show  that  the  status  was  high  ajid 
free.  But  we  have  an  actual  law  promulgated  in  694-5  that 
gives  a  notable  franchise  to  women. 

Before  that  time,  in  a  disturbed  epoch,  there  must  have 
been  great  hardships  inflicted  on  the  women  of  Ireland.  They 
had  to  take  part  in  war  and  in  battle.  But  in  Ireland  there 
were  men  who  were  revolted  by  these  conditions,  and  that  dis- 
tinguished scholar  and  statesman,  Adamnan,  abbot  of  lona 
and  friend  of  the  Venerable  Bede,  undertook  to  win  a  status 
for  them. 

He  was  travelling  with  his  mother  and  he  offered  to  carry 
her  on  his  back.  She  refused  his  help,  saying  she  would  not  be 
carried  by  an  undutiful  son.  Where  had  he  failed  in  his  duty? 
Adanman  asked.  She  told  him  he  had  failed  because  he  had 
not  freed  the  women  of  Ireland  from  their  political  bondage. 
There  and  then  he  undertook  to  do  it,  going  on  a  hunger-strike 
until  the  Kings  would  come  to  terms  with  him.  "It  shall  not 
be  in  my  time  if  it  is  done,''  said  the  King,  Loingsech  Bregban, 
speaking  like  the  conservative  of  all  time,  "an  evil  time  when 
a  man's  sleep  shall  be  murdered  for  women,  that  women  should 
live  men  should  be  slain.  Put  the  deaf  and  dumb  to  the 
sword  who  asserts  anything  but  that  women  shall  be  in  ever- 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


lasting  bondage  to  the  brink  of  Doom."  Seven  kings  supported 
Loingsech,  but,  by  the  power  of  God,  Adamnan  overcame  them. 
Thereafter  Adamnan's  law  was  accepted,  and  the  securities  for 
its  fulfilment  were — The  Sun  and  the  Moon  and  all  the  other 
elements  of  God,  Peter,  Paul,  Andrew  and  all  the  other 
Apostles,  together  with  the  Irish  saints.  Those  who  violated 
the  law  drew  on  themselves  the  maledictions  of  those  great 
powers.  Adamnan  also  inserted  a  curse  in  the  daily  service 
against  those  who  put  themselves  against  the  spirit  of  the  law. 

After  that  the  women  of  Ireland  had  unquestioned  status. 
They  had  control  of  their  own  property.  Those  who  drew  them 
into  battle  were  punished  severely.  If  a  man  slew  a  woman 
lie  was  condemned  to  two-fold  punishment.  If  a  woman  was 
slain  by  part  of  an  army  every  fifth  man  up  to  the  three 
hundredth  was  condemned  to  a  severe  penalty.  Even  for  in- 
sult the  penalty  was  made  heavy.  "If  it  be  by  making  a 
gentlewoman  blush  by  imputing  unchastity  to  her,  or  by  throw- 
ing doubt  on  the  legitimacy  of  her  offspring  a  fine  of  seven 
cumals  shall  be  exacted." 

The  position  of  women  in  Ancient  Ireland  is  revealed  by 
the  apostrophe  of  the  writer  of  the  tenth  century  treatise  on 
"'^Adamnan^s  Law."  "Adamnan  suffered  much  harship  for  your 
sake,  0  women,  so  that  ever  since  Adamnan^s  time  one  half 
of  your  house  is  yours,  and  there  is  a  place  for  your  chair  in 
the  other  half;  so,  that  your  contract  and  your  safeguard  are 
free.  And  the  first  law  made  in  Heaven  and  on  Earth  for 
women  is  Adamnan^s  Law."  So,  very  long  ago,  women  in 
Ireland  had  a  position  that  was  formally  recognized. 

It  is  very  just  that  at  this  time  a  writer  should  make  a 
record  for  the  women  of  Ireland,  reminding  us  of  what  that 
clever  cosmopolitan  observer  who  has  been  quoted  before,  Max 
O^Rell,  once  said.  "There  will  be  no  one  to  tell  it,  but  bear  this 
in  mind:  If  ever  Ireland  come  to  anything  it  will  be  because 
of  her  women."  Well,  Ireland,  has  come  to  something.  And 
there  has  been  one  to  tell  us  why:  It  is  because  of  the  faith, 
the  courage,  the  wisdom  and  the  wit  of  THE  WOMEN  OF 
THE  GAEL. 

PADRAIC  COLUM. 


Introduction 


The  WoMEiT  or  the  Gael 
NY  national  biography  that  seriously  ne- 


glects the  role  of  woman  in  a  people's  life 


^  must  be  condemned  as  dwarfed  and  incom- 
plete. It  is  a  repudiation  of  an  element  of  a  na- 
tion's existence  that  is  most  vitally  fundamental 
and  forceful.  It  lacks  that  medium  through  which 
the  eye  of  the  interpretative  searcher  after  truth 
can  behold  the  mystic  depths  of  a  nation's  soul 
and  reveal  with  a  sense  of  substantial  realism  the 
glory,  beauty  and  strength  which  live  and  operate 
in  the  corporate  individuality  of  a  people.  Nation- 
hood is  a  most  delicately  fashioned  and  intricate 
thing  and  defies  with  ease  all  human  efforts  to  ac- 
complish its  ultimate  and  perfect  analysis.  The 
clearest  conception  of  its  nature  can  only  be 
attained  by  a  study  of  the  simplest  yet  most  endur- 
ing and  far-reaching  factors  on  which  its  perplex- 
ing labyrinth  is  constructed.  At  the  fountain-head 
whence  the  stream  of  life  has  issued  must  the  stu- 
dent labour  to  acquire  a  reasonably  successful 
knowledge  of  the  secrets  of  a  people's  evolution 
and  there  he  shall  find  that  the  greatest  and  most 


Introduction 


life-giving  element  of  this  nutritive  spring  is 
woman. 

Nationhood  is  primarily  the  product  of  spirit- 
ual forces.  Divorced  from  the  mastery  of  the  soul 
a  people  may  constitute  for  itself  a  world  hege- 
mony through  the  power  of  its  artillery  or  the 
multitude  of  its  merchant-men  but  it  cannot  boast 
of  fidelity  to  that  part  of  its  nature  which  alone 
has  the  most  enduring  influence  upon  the  future 
of  itself  and  of  all  mankind.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  woman  is  more  essentially  responsible  for 
the  development  of  the  ideas  that  make  for  the  per- 
petuity of  national  life.  She  is  the  main  worker 
in  the  garden  of  the  souls  of  children  whence  the 
nation  must  extract  its  spiritual  nutrition.  She 
is  more  constantly  and  familiarly  in  contact  with 
the  sacredness  of  the  child  soul  than  man.  Hence 
her  knowledge  of  the  precious  beings  confided  to 
her  care  endows  her  with  limitless  power  to  win 
their  confidence  and  mould  their  character.  When 
she  points  the  way  to  the  ruling  verities  of  the  in- 
visible world  the  impressionable  heart  of  the  chikl 
naturally  heeds  her  words  for  it  trusts  the  one  it 
knows  best  and,  above  all,  the  one  whose  feminine 
delicacy  is  a  most  efficient  interpreter  of  the 
spiritual  world  for  the  young  and  tender  soul. 

If  this  feminine  contribution  to  the  greatness 
of  nations  is  an  indubitable  fact  that  can  not  be 
overlooked  it  is  especially  so  in  the  case  of  Ire- 
land. Nowhere  does  woman  exert  a  greater  influ- 
ence than  in  that  island  outpost  of  western 


[2] 


Introduction 


Europe.  Several  influences  conspire  to  create  for 
her  therein  an  atmosphere  most  congenial  for  the 
operation  of  her  nature.  Of  these  we  will  cite  a 
few  of  the  most  potent.  The  manhood  of  the  Irish 
Celt  has  a  decidedly  supernatural  bent  which  has 
established  within  it  a  sympathetic  comprehen- 
sion of  woman  born  of  a  striking  kinship  with  her 
being.  The  feminine  factor  in  the  Irishman's 
make-up  begets  a  remarkable  harmony  of  thought 
and  feeling  between  him  and  his  racial  sister  which 
resulting  in  unbounded  trust  in  her  gives  her  an 
honoured  position  as  mother,  wife  and  maiden  that 
is  scarcely  paralleled  in  any  other  country.  Then, 
too,  he  is  an  idealist  and  hungers  for  an  idol  to  wor- 
ship, for  some  worthy  object  to  absorb  the  highest 
energy  of  his  soul :  this  he  finds  in  a  pure  woman- 
hood. Yetj  despite  the  delicacy  of  his  nature  the 
Irishman  is  as  manly  a  type  as  breathes.  On  this 
account  he  finds  in  the  extreme  femininity  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Gael  a  most  suitable  complement 
of  his  own  sturdy  manliness.  The  sheer  force  of 
contrast  draws  him  towards  her  with  a  sense  of 
passionate  reverence  and  a  vivid  conception  of  the 
many  qualities  of  her  being  that  are  admirably  cal- 
culated to  fill  many  a  void  in  his  nature  and 
contribute  to  its  strength  and  happiness. 

Fully  cognisant  of  this  dominating  position  of 
woman  in  Irish  life  the  writer  with  a  sense  of  duty 
as  well  as  pleasure  has  assumed  the  task  of  paying 
a  more  extensive  tribute  to  the  daughters  of  the 
Gael  than  has  hitherto  appeared  in  print.  This  we 


[3] 


/ 


Introduction 

do  not  intend  to  accomplisli  by  elabourate  accounts 
of  distinguished  individuals  in  severe  isolation 
from  the  common  mass  of  Irish  womanhood.  We 
hope  that  the  nature  of  our  work  shall  be  such 
that  the  reader  can  see  in  the  women  who  enter 
into  our  narrative  great  and  brilliant  personalities 
dependent  for  their  nobility  on  the  wine  of  in- 
spiration which  they  derived  from  the  secret  vin- 
tage of  character  which  is  the  heritage  of  the 
whole  body  of  the  daughters  of  Erin.  The  great- 
ness of  the  relatively  few  with  whom  we  have  to 
deal  shall  be  symbolic  of  the  greatness  of  the 
many  because  it  would  have  been  impossible  had 
not  the  common  properties  of  feminine  Gaeldom 
been  wholesome  and  enduring.  The  distinguished 
daughters  of  Ireland  are  the  bright-crested 
billows  of  the  vast  sea  of  the  womanhood  of  their 
race  dependent  for  their  might  and  beauty  on 
the  ever  bounteous  depths  of  the  source  that  pro- 
duced and  sustained  them.  They  are  no  freakish 
exceptions  but  the  continuous  and  unfailing  prod- 
ucts of  their  race  and  civilisation. 

And  just  as  truly  as  their  lives  reveal  traits 
that  are  the  property  of  the  race  rather  than 
qualities  inhering  in  a  mere  group  of  abnormally 
gifted  individuals  so  they  also  manifest  attributes 
that  are  primarily  in  consonance  with  all  that  is 
womanly.  They  are  rarely  sexually  unsphered 
when  doing  the  work  of  Ireland.  Sometimes,  in- 
deed, feminine  activity  assumes  an  aggressiveness 
that  savours  of  masculinity  in  the  field  of  battle, 

[4] 


i 


Introduction 


the  diplomatic  arena  and  the  sphere  of  the  agi- 
tator. Even  in  these  instances  Irish  women  pri- 
marily forge  their  way  to  success  because  they 
are  women.  No  matter  what  masculinity  of  fibre 
is  discoverable  in  their  personalities  it  is  not  such 
as  to  unsex  them  and  deprive  them  of  that  spirit- 
uality of  appeal  which  feminine  character  flings 
out  to  an  impressionable  and  soulful  manhood. 
In  other  words,  womanhood  is  practically  in  its 
entirety  valuable  to  Ireland  as  an  indirect  rather 
than  a  direct  force.  It  furnishes  a  light  of  ideal- 
ism in  which  the  manhood  of  the  nation  sees 
many  incentives  for  the  maintenance  of  its 
patriotic  endeavours  and  the  deeds  it  inspires 
by  its  spirit-influence  are  far  more  important 
than  anything  that  results  from  its  own  direct 
participation  in  acts  that  are  more  suited  for 
manly  hands  to  do.  It  wins  for  itself  a  respect 
that  compels  men  to  regard  it  as  an  intimate  and 
most  sacred  part  of  that  national  heritage  for 
which  they  were  in  honour  bound  to  struggle  and 
die. 


[5] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBKAKY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


CHAPTER  I 


In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  Wae 

IN  THE  tales  of  old,  be  they  of  a  mythical  or 
quasi-mythical  nature,  there  is  much  em- 
balmed that  is  founded  on  the  rock  of  fact.  A 
man  may  regard  with  the  eyes  of  a  skeptic  the  exis- 
tence of  gods  and  heroes  but  he  can  not  deny  that 
the  milieu  of  thought  and  sentiment  which  en- 
velopes them  must  reveal  most  interesting  aspects 
of  the  creative  brain  whence  they  emanated.  In- 
deed, peoples  in  their  infancy  give  in  their  literary 
creations  a  more  real  expression  of  racial  prin- 
ciples than  any  bald  scientific  enumeration  of  facts 
can  furnish.  As  a  well-known  writer  states: 
^^the  mythical  heroes  which  a  race  creates  for 
itself,  the  aspirations  which  it  embodies  and 
illustrates,  the  sentiments  which  it  immortalises 
in  story  and  ballad,  will  help  us  to  under- 
stand the  real  character  of  the  race  better 
than  it  could  be  expounded  to  us  by  any 
collection  of  the  best  authenticated  statistics."* 
Mere  figures  have  only  an  incomplete  mathe- 
matical value  whilst  the  vital  and  human 
currents  of  thought-electricity  that  vivify  the 
pages  of  ancient  story  are  a  more  reliable  index 

*  Irish  Literature,  ed  Justin  MaCarthy.  Vol.  1  p.  i. 

[7] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

of  the  qualities  that  reside  in  the  power-house  of 
that  section  of  humanity  to  which  they  owe  their 
existence. 

Bearing  this  in  mind  we  go  back  to  the  twilight 
of  Gaelic  story  for  our  initial  views  of  Irish 
womanhood.  Here  we  find  the  feminine  section 
of  the  Gael  enjoying  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
world  of  letters.  Kindling  in  the  hearts  of  men 
the  fires  of  tenderness  or  rousing  within  them  the 
tempests  of  battle-fury  these  ancient  heroines  are 
worthy  subjects  of  epic  masterpieces.  The  spell 
that  is  associated  with  their  majesty  of  manner 
is  as  potent  to  hypnotise  and  woo  to  sympathetic 
mood,  the  reader  as  is  the  magic  charm  of  their 
alluring  and  delicate  femininity. 

Who  that  knows  aught  of  literature  has  not 
heard  of  Deirdre,  that  sorrow-burdened  woman 
symbolic  of  suffering  Eire?  She  is  the  central 
figure  of  the  tragic  tale  that  bears  her  name  and 
so  magnificent  is  the  woe  that  encircles  her  therein 
that  Dr.  Sigerson  deems  this  piece  of  literature 
^^the  first  tragedy  outside  the  classics  in  Europe." 
It  is  certainly  the  finest,  most  pathetic  and  deftly 
executed  of  all  the  ancient  tales  of  Ireland. 

And  the  greatness  that  is  Deirdre 's  is  not  rooted 
in  conquering  malice  but  a  resplendent  nobility. 
The  helpless  prey  of  a  malign  destiny  she  permits 
the  surges  of  woe  to  inundate  and  overwhelm  her 
without  ever  losing  her  queenly  dignity.  Like  a 
luminous  symbol  expressive  of  the  sorrow  and 
unflinching  heroism  of  the  Celt  she  concentrates 

[8] 


In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  War 


in  her  personality  the  twin  and  constant  heritage 
of  the  race,  grief  ever  mating  with  invincible 
majesty  of  mien.  Honourable  principle  and 
sweetest  tenderness  form  in  her  a  combination 
that  constitute  her  one  of  the  most  sublime  women 
of  myth.  True  to  the  bond  of  affection  that  binds 
her  to  her  brothers  she  fears  not  to  accompany 
them  whithersoever  they  may  go,  though  the 
threatening  clouds  of  impending  disaster  tell  this 
child  of  prophecy  of  the  inevitable  fate  that  is 
hers.  She  leaves  the  pleasant  ways  of  Alba  be- 
hind her  where  the  raptures  of  the  cuckooes  voice 
on  bending  bough  and  the  glory  of  scenic  beauty 
held  her  soul  enthralled  and  faces  with  fortitude 
the  stern  future  of  her  visions.  When  utter  grief 
had  become  her  lot  and  cruel  perj&dy  brought  her 
lover,  Naoisi,  and  her  brothers,  Annla  and  Ardan 
to  their  violent  deaths  she  mourns  them  with  a 
titanic  sorrow  that  is  intensely  expressive  of  the 
Irishwoman's  loyalty  to  family  and  kin.  Listen 
to  her  as  the  torrent  of  lament  pours  forth  through 
the  floodgates  of  her  soul  while  she  stands  by  the 
grave  of  the  beloved  three  and  you  can  not  but 
feel  admiration  for  the  infant  genius  of  the  Gael 
that  could  create  in  the  utterance  of  this  far-off 
lonely  figure  so  human  and  time-defying  an 
appeal : 

man  who  diggest  the  new  grave 
Make  not  the  grave  narrowly ; 
Beside  the  grave  I  will  be — 
Making  sorrow  and  lamentations. 


[9] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


I  was  not  one  day  alone, 
Till  the  day  of  the  making  of  the  grave 
Though  oftentimes  have  I  myself 
And  yourself  been  lonely. 

I  am  Deirdre  without  pleasure 
And  I  in  the  end  of  my  life ; 
Since  it  is  grievous  to  be  after  them, 
I  will  myself  not  be  long. 

Turning  from  dignified  sorrow  to  the  stern  field 
of  war  we  find  a  female  character  strong  with  the 
strength  of  the  GaePs  pride.  This  is  Maeve,  the 
peerless  warrior  queen  of  Connaught.  She  is  one 
of  the  leading  personalities  of  the  Tain,  which  is 
numbered  amongst  the  greatest  prose  epics  of 
antiquity.  All  the  tempestuous  scenes  of  strife, 
wild  cattle  forays  and  deathless  deeds  of  chivalry 
that  live  in  the  womb  of  the  Tain  are  not  deemed 
too  terrible  or  splendid  to  find  their  source  in  the 
pride  of  a  woman  of  the  Gael.  The  Greeks  built 
the  masterpiece  of  the  lUiad  on  the  weakness  of 
Helen  but  the  Irish  evolved  the  Tain  from  the 
massive  and  unbending  fibre  of  royal  Maeve 's 
character. 

Yet  for  all  her  stubborn  strength  she  had  the 
heart  of  a  woman.  Verses  still  survive  to  show 
that  when  that  husband  over  whom  she  towered 
lay  still  in  death  she  gave  vent  to  a  truly  feminine 
lament  indicative  of  a  sense  of  loss  created  by 
the  departure  from  her  life  of  one  whom  the  soul 

[ID] 


In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  War 


of  a  woman  needed.  Kindly  king''  she  ex- 
claimed, 

 who  liked  not  lies, 

Rash  to  rise  to  fields  of  fame, 
Raven  black  his  brows  of  fear, 
Razor-sharp  his  spear  of  flame." 

It  is  little  wonder  that  her  fascination  for  literary 
minds  is  cosmopolitan  and  that  —  to  mention  one 
of  many  notables  of  the  pen  —  she  captivated  the 
inspired  eye  of  Spenser  who  deemed  her  worthy 
of  a  place  in  his  masterpiece,  the  Faerie  Queene. 

Bnt  it  is  in  the  tales  that  are  burdened  with 
the  eternal  message  of  love,  that  key  to  the  gate^ 
way  of  power,  which  woman  wields  with  sovereign 
skill  that  the  daughters  of  ancient  Eire  play  the 
most  conspicuous  part.  In  this  type  of  literature 
which  is  so  vitally  dependent  for  inspiration  on  a 
true  study  of  womanhood  the  Irish  took  an  es- 
pecial interest.  A  considerable  portion  of  the 
early  heroic  literature  is  devoted  to  the  subject 
of  love  and  the  power  that  woman  wields  through 
it  to  move  great  men  to  deeds  that  claim  the 
tribute  of  a  nation's  admiration.  No  less  than 
thirteen  courtships  and  twelve  elopements  enjoy 
the  company  of  Ireland's  other  ancient  tales.  We 
have  it  from  no  less  an  authority  than  Eleanor 
Hull  that  the  first  story  of  the  human  race  telling 
of  the  activities  of  passionate  hearts  came  from 
the  brain  of  the  Gael.  It  was  Ireland  first 
glorified  the  mysteries  veiling  and  the  beauty  in 


[II] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

forming  the  magnetism  of  woman  heart  for  man 
and  the  noble  efforts  of  the  latter  to  be  worthy 
of  the  admiration  of  the  gentler  sex.  The  country- 
was  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  the  subject  to 
which  she  was  to  give  special  attention  for  she 
manipulated  it  with  a  rare  success.  In  her  early 
literature  of  love,  heroines  possess  a  variety  of 
type  and  a  distinctness  and  individuality  of  char- 
acter that  surpass  what  is  best  even  in  the 
Arthurian  legend. 

One  of  the  tenderest  love  tales  ever  penned  is 
the  Wooing  of  Etain,  which  deals  with  the  lure 
there  was  in  the  heart  of  a  lady  of  no  mortal 
lineage  for  a  monarch  of  Ireland.  It  is  permeated 
by  a  singular  detachment  from  debased  motive 
and  a  certain  platonism  in  the  immaterial  hunger 
of  soul  for  soul  that  is  generally  the  attribute  of 
all  kindred  themes  in  Gaelic  letters.  The  heart 
of  a  monarch  is  subdued  by  the  vision  of  a  woman 
whose  ruling  attraction  is  the  spiritual  beauty  of 
her  form  and  the  life  she  enjoys  in  Tir  na  N-Og, 
the  land  of  pure  though  passionate  hearts.  Yet 
for  all  the  spirit  influence  of  Etain  she  embodies 
much  that  is  human  and  feminine. 

The  most  primitive  attempt  of  the  Gael  to  tell 
in  song  of  love  is  found  in  Fand's  Farewell  to 
Cuchulainn.  In  it  there  dwells  a  pathos  most 
striking  and  delicate  for  so  early  an  age.  In 
spirituality  of  feeling  it  is  akin  to  the  Wooing 
but  its  human  tenderness  and  heart  searching 
potency  is  its  supreme  asset.   It  is  in  this  dom- 


[12] 


In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  War 


inant  characteristic  that  its  guarantee  of  im- 
mortality resides  for  there  is  little  doubt  but  that 
in  the  words  of  Dr.  Sigerson  the  music  of  its 
passionate  chimes  shall  vibrate  in  the  human 
heart  till  mankind  is  no  more." 

In  the  Fenian  cycle  of  saga  there  is  bountiful 
evidence  of  the  love-impetuosity  of  the  Celt. 
Caoilte's  Urn  yields  a  proof  of  the  impulsive 
readiness  of  heroic  Ireland  to  respond  to  the  at- 
tractions of  women  when  their  mode  of  appeal 
was  even  decidedly  intellectual.  Finn,  the  arch- 
hero  of  the  knightly  Fenians,  becomes  at  first 
sight  the  prey  of  the  beauty  of  the  daughter  of 
Eanna.  But  the  fair  damsel  did  not  rely  on  mere 
physical  attractions  and  she  took  into  her  service 
the  power  of  music  to  aid  her  symmetry  of  form 
in  its  onslaught  on  the  soul  of  the  rugged  warrior. 
Thus  her  mode  of  wooing  is  elevated  and  subtle. 
She  brings  to  her  assistance  her  father,  a  noted 
harpist,  whom  the  old  Celtic  writer  with  all  the 
wealth  of  his  perfervid  imagination  describes  as 
unsurpassable.  Speaking  of  the  wondrous  airs 
this  musician  could  manipulate,  he  says:  ^4f  the 
deft  goltarghleas  were  played  for  the  kings  of  the 
melodious  world,  all  that  might  hear,  though  sor- 
rowless,  would  feel  a  lasting  sorrow.  If  the  clear 
gantarghleas  were  played  for  the  grave  kings  of 
the  earth,  all  that  might  hear  without  contempt 
would  be  forever  laughing.  If  the  full  suantargh- 
leas  were  played  for  the  kings  of  the  bright  world, 
all  that  might  hear  (a  wondrous  way)  would  fall 


[13] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


into  a  lasting  sleep/'*  Thus  did  maidenhood  in 
those  days  enlist  the  aid  of  the  tearful,  laughing, 
dreamy  strains  of  the  wizard  of  the  harp  to  win 
its  heart's  desire.  Is  it  little  wonder  that  with 
such  an  ally  it  rarely  failed  to  search  all  that 
was  best  in  the  inmost  being  of  its  beloved  and 
batter  down  his  last  fortress  of  hesitancy? 

A  few  other  kindred  tales  there  are  worthy  of 
some  notice  here.  In  Baile,  the  Sweet-Spoken, 
we  meet  with  a  most  poignant  picture  having  for 
its  background  a  sublime  passion.  But  the  sword 
of  sorrow  that  pierces  as  we  read  it  borrows  a 
terrible  beauty  from  the  love  that  produced  it. 
The  tragic  glory  with  which  it  is  endowed  is  but 
an  index  of  the  splendid  fire  of  love  in  which  its 
penetrating  steel  was  tempered.  Two  passionate 
hearts  grow  cold  in  death  through  sheer  grief  for 
one  another  caused  by  the  false  news  of  mutual 
dissolution.  The  rumour  was  untrue  but  the 
credence  given  it  made  a  reality  of  a  non-existent 
tragedy. 

Not  so  tragic  but  highly  complimentary  to 
woman  is  Diarmuid  and  Grainne,  one  of  the  finest 
of  the  Fenian  tales.  It  is  replete  with  the  heroic 
efforts  of  a  gallant  knight  to  face  unflinchingly  all 
trials  that  might  beset  him  to  save  and  honour 
his  intended  bride.  The  fury  of  the  jealous  and 
relentless  Finn  menaced  him  on  every  side  but 
the  staunch  young  Diarmuid  never  failed  to  suc- 
cour his  beloved  Grainne  and  the  feats  by  which 

*  The  Book  of  the  Lays  of  Finn.  J.  MacNeill.  p.  147. 

[14] 


In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  War 

he  ofttimes  rescued  her  from  the  most  perilous 
situation  illumine  the  story  with  an  almost  con- 
stant brilliancy  of  soul-stirring  adventure. 

Tales  there  are,  too,  that  deal  not  specifically 
with  love  or  war,  though  these  in  miniature 
appear,  where  woman  is  the  pivotal  point  of  in- 
terest. One  is  so  preoccupied  with  a  feminine 
problem  that  its  title  tells  the  reader  that  the 
actions  of  women  is  its  sole  theme;  it  is  called 
The  Women's  War  of  Words.  A  banquet  was 
provided  by  a  noted  entertainer  named  Bricriu 
for  all  that  was  most  knightly  in  the  Red  Branch 
ranks.  With  the  heroes  came  their  ladies  priding 
in  their  distinguished  husbands.  As  the  guests 
were  about  to  take  their  places  at  the  festive 
board  the  women  sought  positions  in  consonance 
with  the  rank  of  their  lords.  The  result  was  a 
violent  controversy  for  each  lady  contended  for 
priority  of  place.  As  the  debate  waxed  louder 
and  more  vehement  it  reached  the  ears  of  the  ban- 
queting nobles.  The  sound  of  the  combatting 
voices  roused  them  to  battle-fury  and  only  diplo- 
macy kept  them  from  red  slaughter  for  their 
ladies'  sake.  They  knew  the  unyielding  pride  of 
their  womanhood  rooted  in  the  domestic  virtue  of 
devotion  to  their  husbands  and  were  ready  to  a 
man  to  vindicate  it  to  the  utmost. 

A  like  principle  of  manly  loyalty  to  womanhood 
is  in  evidence  in  the  Burning  of  Finn's  house. 
The  women  folk  of  this  famous  stead,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  their  husbands,  raised  a  false  cry  of 


[15] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


alarm  that  they  might  behold  an  aged  man  named 
Garaid  whom  in  his  sleep  they  had  bound  by  hair 
and  beard  to  the  hostel  endeavoring  to  come  to 
their  rescue.  The  old  warrior  discovering  the  in- 
sult offered  him,  set  fire  to  the  house  and  com- 
mitted them  to  a  dreadful  death.  The  story  in- 
deed manifests  most  primitive  savagery  on  the 
part  of  the  enraged  warrior  and  crude  wantonness 
on  the  part  of  the  women.  Yet  the  readiness  with 
which  they  anticipated  a  response  to  their  outcry 
shows  their  faith  in  the  men  of  the  Gael  whilst 
the  old  man's  vindictiveness  is  somewhat  atoned 
for  by  his  alertness  of  action  for  the  sake  of 
woman  in  distress.  Garaid  has  the  untamed  pas- 
sion of  the  early  Gaelic  fighting  man  which  knows 
no  checks  in  the  presence  of  falsehood.  Only 
where  truth  and  honor  clamoured  for  support  in 
the  service  of  womanhood  did  that  wild  tempera- 
ment become  submissive  yoked  to  the  service- 
chariot  of  the  gentler  sex. 

Closely  associated  with  the  feminine  ideals  that 
permeate  so  much  of  the  literature  of  love  and 
war  is  that  patriotic  instinct  which  was  the  prop- 
erty of  the  women  of  the  Gael.  It  pervades  their 
domestic  relations  and  lends  a  glamour  to  the 
tragedies  of  conflict.  In  the  Death  of  Cuchulainn 
the  solicitude  of  his  wife  and  other  ladies  for 
his  safety  is  prompted  by  their  pride  in  him  as 
prime  champion  of  their  land  as  well  as  by  their 
womanly  admiration  for  a  magnificent  type  of 
manhood.   When  the  sons  of  Galatin,  in  one  of 

[i6] 


In  the  Pagan  Tales  of  Love  and  War 


the  most  dramatic  incidents  of  the  story,  in  league 
with  the  mystic  agencies  of  the  druids  endeavor 
to  secure  the  ruin  of  this  champion  of  the  Gael 
these  ladies  render  futile  their  attempts  and  pre- 
serve him  for  the  future  glory  of  their  country. 
In  the  touching  song  of  Crede,  daughter  of  Guaire 
the  generous,  the  red  fire  of  a  woman's  patriotic 
passion  is  kindled  at  the  sight  of  the  ruddy  wounds 
that  mar  the  figure  of  her  father  stricken  in  de- 
fense of  his  people.  While  she  thinks  of  these, 
the  angel  touch  of  sleep  cannot  soothe  her  for 
their  haunting  presence  are  as  arrows  that  mur- 
der sleep  in  the  bitter  cold  night.''  Thus  might 
we  enumerate  instance  after  instance  to  demon- 
strate the  ancient  Irish  belief  in  the  patriotism 
of  the  women  of  Erin.  The  sayings  of  ladies  are 
manifold  displaying  the  ^amor  patriae'  that 
burned  in  their  bosoms.  It  is  even  this  sense  of 
patriotism  that  contributes  to  the  elevated  moral 
principles  of  Irish  womanhood  in  pagan  days 
when  they  consider  adultery  one  of  the  gravest 
of  crimes.  They  regard  it  as  a  national  as  well 
as  a  moral  stain  on  the  soul  of  the  guilty  one  for 
it  strikes  at  that  purity  of  race  that  is  one  of  the 
most  treasured  possessions  of  the  Celts.  And  if 
it  is  the  spiritual  and  the  poetic  in  the  Irishman 
as  well  as  his  ruggedness  of  soul  that  rivet  his 
being  to  his  motherland  it  is  only  reasonable  that 
these  characteristics  which  are  emphatically  pres- 
ent in  his  very  feminine  sisterhood  should  bind  it 
passionately  to  its  country. 


[17] 


CHAPTER  II 


The  Social  Dignity  Of  Women 

DEPARTING  from  the  rose-tinged  world  of 
romance  to  a  more  prosaic  discussion  of 
the  public  and  social  position  accorded 
woman  in  ancient  Ireland  there  is  an  abundance 
of  data  at  hand  to  render  the  fruits  of  our  search 
highly  creditable  to  our  subject.  Just  as  she  has 
charm  and  influence  where  the  finest  and  most 
soul-searching  things  of  life  are  in  demand,  so  she 
owns  sterner  qualities  which  procure  her  an 
honourable  entrance  to  the  place  where  clarity 
of  intellect,  robustness  of  spirit  and  fortitude  of 
a  high  calibre  adorn  her  actions  and  add  lustre 
to  her  nation. 

A  vari-coloured  evidence  taken  broadly  from 
the  different  angles  from  which  old  writers  regard 
her,  shows  their  general  acceptance  of  her  capacity 
for  shouldering  public  burdens.  A  prominence 
is  commonly  given  therein  to  the  role  of  woman 
in  civic  life  that,  in  the  literature  of  the  Teutons 
is  usually  handed  over  to  man.  Eleanor  Hull 
who  is  intimately  acquainted  with  old  Celtic  writ- 
ings ably  summarises  for  us  the  evidence  she 
discovers  in  favour  of  the  social  dignity  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Gael.   She  tells  us  how  marked 

[i8] 


The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 


strength,  and  conquering  ambition  together  with 
a  subtle  beauty  and  sunniness  of  temperament 
wins  for  Irish  women  the  respect  they  covet.  ^^The 
Irish  women,''  she  says,  belong  to  an  heroic 
type.  They  are  often  the  counsellors  of  their  hus- 
bands and  the  champions  of  their  cause;  oc- 
casionally, as  in  Maeve's  case,  their  masters. 
They  are  frequently  fierce  and  vindictive,  but 
they  are  also  strong,  forceful  and  intelligent.  In 
youth  they  possess  often  a  charming  gaiety;  they 
are  full  of  clever  repartee  and  waywardness  and 
have  a  delightful  and  wayward  self-confidence. 
Emer,  especially  has  a  great  deal  of  the  modern 
woman  about  her;  she  is  no  lovelorn  maid  to  be 
caught  by  the  words  of  a  wooer's  tongue,  even 
though  her  lover  is  Cuchulainn;  she  is  gay,  petu- 
lant and  not  too  readily  satisfied.  He  thinks  to 
win  his  cause  simply  by  the  fame  of  his  name  and 
the  splendour  of  his  appearance,  but  she  makes 
larger  demands ;  nor  will  she  listen  to  his  suit  until 
she  has  won  from  him  respect  and  admiration 
as  well  as  affection."* 

The  nation  seems  to  have  been  aware  of  the 
presence  of  these  strong  qualities  and  accordingly 
has  recourse  to  unique  methods  to  recognize  its 
debt  to  its  women.  Some  of  the  most  distinguished 
amongst  them  are  given  a  special  prominence 
in  the  genealogical  strata  of  which  a  tribal  com- 
monwealth was  intensely  jealous  and  proud. 
Oftentimes  the  names  of  noted  men  enshrined 


*  A  Text  Book  of  Irish  Literature,  p.  78. 

[19] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


those  of  their  mothers  thus  linking  the  glory  of 
maternal  parents  with  that  of  their  sons  for  all 
time.  In  this  wise  did  the  illustrious  warrior  of 
the  North,  King  Conor  Mac  Nessa  honour  the 
one  who  bore  him.  Sometimes  they  are  pursued 
even  to  their  last  long  resting-place  by  the  solic- 
itude of  the  people.  There  are  recorded  instances 
of  cemeteries  for  the  burial  of  women  alone  where 
enduring  sleep  might  hold  them  in  honourable 
seclusion  from  the  other  sex  and  where  the  peril 
of  having  their  memory  obliterated  through  the 
intrusion  of  greater  masculine  celebrities  might 
be  obviated.  But  surpassing  every  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  the  women  of  the  race  is  that  of  the 
writer  who  says  that  after  Mary,  the  Mother 
of  God,  the  six  best  women  in  the  world  were 
Maeve,  Saiv,  Sarait,  Ere,  Emer  and  Achall. ' '  He 
\  feared  not  to  compare  the  product  of  his  land  in 
its  pagan  state  with  the  best  that  any  other  clime 
produced  even  under  the  tutelage  of  Christianity. 

Considering  more  specifically  the  various  de- 
partments in  which  the  women  of  old  won  re- 
nown we  find  that  in  the  councils  which  control 
the  destinies  of  embattled  hosts  they  were  often- 
times conspicuous  figures.  Maeve  of  Connaught 
is  the  superior  of  her  husband  in  the  intellectual 
as  well  as  the  physical  leadership  of  their  armies. 
It  was  the  strength  of  her  arm  and  the  virility 
of  her  mind  that  made  the  chieftains  of  three 
provinces  with  their  troops  hearken  to  her  will. 
And  when  the  manhood  of  three-fourths  of  Erin 


[20] 


The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 


met  together  under  her  banner  to  carry  red  war 
into  Ulster  to  wrench  from  it  the  pride  of  its 
steers,  the  Dnn  Bull  of  Cooley,  it  was  her  master 
intellect  that  grappled  with  the  problems  of  or- 
ganization and  strategy  incidental  to  the  enter- 
prise. Hers  was  a  commanding  and  invincible  will 
that  never  quailed  before  obstructing  forces  and 
tested  to  its  utmost  the  ingenuity  of  Cuchulainn 
himself.  Sometimes  when  Ailill  in  the  face  of 
peril  hesitated,  his  imperious  queen  brushed  him 
aside  and  made  her  will  triumphant  with  words 
of  stern  reproof  and  grim  resolves  such  as, 
Coward!  ....  If  you  don't  decide,  I  will.''  And 
as  in  war,  so  in  peace,  her  statesmanship  and 
strength  were  evident.  With  a  far-seeing  power 
of  vision  she  provided  for  the  stability  of  her 
kingdom  by  measures  of  wisdom  such  as  marriage 
alliances. 

Women  too,  there  were  whose  technical  knowl- 
edge of  the  machinery  then  used  in  war  and  of 
the  drill  that  should  befit  a  champion  of  the  battle- 
field was  renowned.  One  of  these  entrusted  with 
the  preparation  of  the  weapons  for  the  Battle  of 
Moytura  was  a  v>^oman.  This  proves  that  long 
before  the  feminine  element  became  important  in 
the  Great  War  of  1914  as  makers  of  munitions 
the  Irish  relied  on  the  ability  of  women  to  fashion 
war's  engines  of  destruction.  A  certain  Eachtach 
was  so  conversant  with  the  use  of  weapons  that 
she  braved  the  prowess  of  Finn  himself  and 
matched  her  skill  against  his  by  the    music  of 


[21] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


her  round  spears/'  And  the  men  of  Ireland 
honoured  her  for  her  military  science  by  a  dis- 
tinguished burial  place  at  her  death.  Then  there 
was  Ciachni  who  ^radiated  beauty'  yet  feared  not 
to  expose  her  loveliness  to  the  hardships  asso- 
ciated with  prominence  in  the  field  of  battle.  The 
mother  of  Conor  Mac  Nessa  was  almost  as  noted 
as  her  famous  son  as  a  leader  of  men.  Cuchulainn, 
the  arch-hero  of  the  Gael,  confided  himself  to  the 
tutelage  of  Scathach  for  the  acquirement  of 
special  dexterity  in  the  manipulation  of  arms. 

Missions  that  demanded  the  intelligence  of  the 
counsellor  and  the  courage  of  the  warrior  were 
often  entrusted  to  women.  They  were  frequently 
employed  as  ambassadors  capable  of  being  en- 
trusted with  messages  of  high  import  the  exe- 
cution of  which  often  involved  much  peril.  Three 
female  runners  were  part  of  the  official  household 
of  Finn  Mac  Cool.  Lavercam  who  was  a  poetess 
was  also  an  envoy  of  kings.  She  with  another  noted 
envoy  had  once  the  coveted  distinction  of  seeking 
for  Conor  Mac  Nessa  when  deep  melancholy 
seized  him  some  lady  within  the  seas  of  Erin 
whose  charms  should  dispel  the  heaviness  of  his 
heart. 

As  they  were  deemed  worthy  of  sharing  in  the 
deliberations  of  high  councils  of  state  it  is  no 
cause  for  wonder  that  they  were  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  legislative  life  of  the  land.  They 
were  regarded  as  eligible  for  the  office  of  brehon 
or  judge  in  a  country  which  demanded  rigid  and 

[22] 


The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 


lengthy  preparation  for  that  position.  A  period 
of  study  ranging  from  ten  to  twenty  years  was 
required  for  candidates  having  judicial  ambitions, 
for  the  mind  of  the  country  was  decidedly  a 
justice-loving  one  and  could  not  tolerate  poor  in- 
tellectual equipment  in  the  person  responsible  for 
the  preservation  of  this  virtue  in  the  land.  So 
well  did  women  meet  the  requirements  of  the  na- 
tion in  this  regard  that  some  of  those  who  were 
privileged  to  be  brehons  rose  far  beyond  the  com- 
monplace in  the  execution  of  their  duties  and  left 
the  memory  of  their  names  an  enduring  one  in 
Irish  legal  tradition.  The  decisions,  for  instance, 
of  Brigh  Brugaid  determined  as  precedents  in 
law  cases  in  Gaelic  courts  for  centuries. 

But  it  was  as  objects  of  legal  solicitude  that  we 
know  most  about  them.  Anyone  who  consults  the 
Senchus  Mor  cannot  fail  to  realise  that  they  were 
well  provided  for  in  the  enactments  of  the 
brehons.  This  was  especially  remarkable  where 
marriage  was  in  question.  Irish  women,  unlike 
their  sisters  of  Rome  and  Germany,  we  are  in- 
formed by  De  Jubainville,  retained  for  themselves 
their  marriage  dowry  and  thus  provided  them- 
selves with  a  check  on  masculine  tyranny.  When 
her  life  partner  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  have 
no  property  the  housewife  was  the  ruling  one  in 
the  home.  Sometimes  a  less  appreciable  disparity 
between  the  possessions  of  wife  and  husband  was 
sufficient  to  give  the  former  control  of  domestic 
affairs  if  she  had  a  commanding  character.  This 


[23] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

seems  to  have  been  realised  in  the  case  of  Maeve 
who  occasionally  in  anger  claimed  to  be  superior 
to  her  hnsband.  Addressing  her  lord  in  the  Tain 
she  says: 

man  upon  a  woman's  maintenance 
Is  what  thou  art,  0  Ailill." 

Maeve 's  status,  however,  was  not  regarded  as  an 
ideal  to  be  generally  aimed  at  in  married  life. 

Marry  a  wife  who  is  your  equaP'  is  an  aphorism 
that  tells  of  the  wisdom  of  being  mated  with  a 
partner  who  is  fitted  for  one  by  endowments  of 
wealth  and  character;  yet  almost  in  the  same 
breath  another  proverb  says  ^^rule  your  wife,'' 
implying  that  the  law  of  nature  which  gives  the 
human  leadership  of  the  household  to  the  husband 
must  not  be  dethroned.  It  seems  to  have  been 
the  hope  of  the  Gaelic  legislator  that  this  basis 
of  a  woman's  marriageable  suitability  for  a  man 
whilst  not  interfering  with  the  proper  repository 
of  authority  should  make  for  domestic  concord 
by  giving  the  housewife  the  right  to  be  consulted 
in  all  important  decisions  affecting  the  home. 
When  her  property  was  equal  to  her  husband's 
the  wedded  pair  constituted  a  council  of  two 
whose  unanimity  was  necessary  for  the  validity 
of  all  such  contracts.  But  no  matter  what  her 
possessions  might  have  been  there  were  certain 
contracts  into  which  her  husband  could  not  enter 
without  her  consent.  In  the  Ancient  Laws  of 
Ireland  there  is  evidence  of  several  privileges 


[24] 


The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 


accorded  to  women  independently  of  their  wealth. 
**And  every  woman  in  general,''  says  the  ancient 
book,  ^^may  give  the  presents  which  are  men- 
tioned in  the  book  called  ^Cin'  to  her  poor  friends 
every  year."  Besides  she  could  go  security  for 
others,  make  loans  and  entertain  half  the  number 
of  guests  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  her  husband  to 
manage  at  a  reception.  In  a  word,  the  domestic 
rights  and  privileges  of  women  were  such  that 
masculine  absolutism  was  a  very  rare  occurrence 
in  the  homes  of  ancient  Erin  for  should  every  safe- 
guard that  the  law  provided  fail  to  keep  the  evil  of 
incurable  discord  from  the  family  heads,  the 
mother  was  free  to  separate  from  the  father  tak- 
ing with  her  a  fair  division  of  the  property.  Where 
such  procedure  was  necessary  she  found  in  the 
laws  several  reasons  to  enable  her  to  obtain 
justice. 

And  the  care  that  was  manifested  for  the  mar- 
ried woman  did  not  surpass  that  bestowed  upon 
the  young  lady  in  anticipation  of  wedlock.  Until 
her  heart  and  hand  merited  the  protection  of 
some  young  man  she  was  completely  under  her 
father's  protection.  This  was  done  not  for  the 
purpose  of  curbing  her  personal  liberty  but  that 
paternal  care  might  contribute  to  the  preservation 
of  her  dignity.  For  education  by  fosterage  her 
father  was  bound  to  provide  and  when  this 
reached  completion  and  her  nuptial  hour  ap- 
proached it  was  his  duty  to  see  that  no  inferior 
was  honoured  by  her  wedded  hand.  Age  of  course 


[25] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


was  another  important  matrimonial  factor  and 
that  advanced  years  might  not  prove  an  obstacle 
to  a  marriageable  maiden  custom  expected  the 
eldest  daughter  of  the  family  to  make  her  great 
adventure  before  her  younger  sisters  showed  like 
daring.  Parents  could  not  neglect  her  even 
though  a  younger  daughter  might  possess  far 
greater  attractions,  for  in  proportion  to  their  in- 
terest in  the  latter  should  be  their  solicitude  for 
the  oldest  who  while  unmarried  was  a  stumbling 
block  in  the  former's  road  to  nuptial  success.  It 
has  been  often  objected  that  parents  in  Ireland 
seriously  erred  by  artificially  made  matches  at 
the  great  festive  gatherings  where  the  individual 
tastes  of  the  young  lady  were  in  no  wise  con- 
sulted. This  seems  an  unjustifiable  assumption 
for  there  is  little  positive  evidence  that  the  in- 
stincts  of  romance  were  not  taken  into  account. 
Parental  influence  was  exerted  as  far  as  we  can 
judge  as  a  guiding  and  corrective  rather  than  a 
destructive  force.  It  was  there  to  superintend 
rather  than  eliminate  romance. 

As  the  system  of  fosterage  attended  to  the  edu- 
cation of  the  young  woman  within  domestic 
circles  so  there  are  grounds  for  believing  that 
the  state  had  public  institutions  where  a  more 
complete  knowledge  was  imparted.  Back  in  the 
twilight  of  the  second  century  we  hear  of  a 
college  at  Tara,  the  seat  of  national  government, 
I  solely  devoted  to  the  training  of  the  feminine 
\   mind.    There  are  records  of  great  female  phy- 

>  [26] 


The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 


sicians  and  lawyers  whose  proficiency  in  their 
professions  was  not  with  likelihood  acquired  by 
private  tutelage.  Even  if  this  were  possible  it 
is  improbable  that  they  would  receive  govern- 
mental recognition  without  some  official  guarantee 
of  their  ability.  Besides,  in  literature,  music  and 
architecture  there  were  several  accomplished 
ladies  who  in  all  probability  were  educated  in 
national  institutions.  There  were  many  female 
rhymers  and  harpists  who  were  recognised 
throughout  the  land  at  the  festive  and  cultural 
gatherings  of  the  people.  In  architecture  Macha 
showed  the  might  of  her  brain  in  such 
distinguished  fashion  that  she  is  worthy  of  special 
note.  Supposed  to  have  lived  three  hundred  years 
before  the  Christian  era  she  planned  the  historic 
palace  of  Emain  after  her  warrior  hand  had  made 
the  throne  of  Ulster  her  own.  Some  idea  of  the 
spaciousness  and  splendour  of  that  edifice  may  be 
obtained  from  the  following  description:  ^^In  the 
King's  house  there  were  three  times  fifty  rooms, 
and  the  walls  were  made  of  red  yew  with  copper 
rivets,  but  in  Conor's  own  room,  which  was  in 
the  front  of  the  house,  and  large  enough  for 
thirty  warriors,  the  walls  were  inlaid  with  bronze, 
wrought  with  silver  on  it,  and  carbuncles  and 
precious  stones,  and  great  gold  birds,  with 
jeweled  eyes,  so  that  day  and  night  were  equally 
light  therein."^ 

*  The  Romance  of  Irish  Heroines.  L.  M.  McCraith.  p.  5. 
[27] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBUaUY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

It  was  for  such  intellectual  leadership  as  well 
as  for  their  strictly  feminine  graces  that  women 
were  recognised  as  one  of  the  prime  adornments 
of  every  brilliant  scene  whether  it  was  legislative, 
literary  or  festive.  In  such  places  they  were 
seated  with  their  own  people  in  the  special  places 
set  apart  for  the  representatives  of  their  respec- 
tive tribes.  They  had  also  councils  of  their  own 
from  which  all  men  were  excluded  where  subjects 
solely  relating  to  the  welfare  of  their  sex  were 
discussed.  Many  descriptions  of  the  women  pres- 
ent at  these  purely  feminine  and  mixed  assemblies 
have  come  down  to  us.  In  these  the  writer  usually 
takes  special  pains  to  depict  in  colourful  words 
the  beauty  of  mind  and  body  that  characterised 
the  women  folk.  Emphasis  is  laid  upon  their 
Celtic  sense  of  honour,  the  delicate  workmanship 
of  nature  on  their  forms  and  the  riot  of  rich  and 
scintillating  colour  that  dwelt  in  their  apparel. 

It  is  little  wonder  they  were  conscious  of 
their  dignified  position  and  often  exulted  in  it. 
It  was  only  where  such  conditions  prevailed  that 
a  lady  could  have  the  towering  self-reliance  and 
hauteur  of  Maeve  when  chafing  under  insult  she 
sought  to  match  her  might  with  a  great  warrior 
monarch  of  her  time  and  supremely  humble  him. 

thought  that  my  high  pride  of  mind  and  spirit 
"Would  ne'er  recover  from  this  seemed  hurt 
Until  I  should  behold  red-sworded  Conor 
Pale  in  his  death  before  me." 


[28] 


The  Social  Dignity  of  Women 


It  was  a  like  spirit  that  in  the  Women's  War  of 
Words  prompted  the  speech  of  the  lady  who 
gloried  in  the  race  that  exalted  her,  in  the  family 
of  which  she  was  the  ornament  and  in  her  own 
intrinsic  worth  for  her  nation  and  her  lord.  It 
was  this,  which  was  the  basis  of  the  custom  by 
which  women  claimed  after  wedlock  the  privilege 
of  being  still  known  by  that  maiden  name  which 
was  the  hallmark  of  their  family  and  clan.  The 
nation,  indeed,  honoured  them  officially  and 
socially  and  they  manifested  to  the  nation  their 
answering  pride  and  gratitude. 


[^] 


CHAPTER  III 


The  Objects  of  Men  Reverence 

THE  Irish  woman's  sense  of  self-respect  won 
for  her  deep  reverence  from  the  nation: 
that  attitude  of  respect  was  considerably 
strengthened  by  the  unusual  innate  bent  of  the 
Irishman  to  protect  what  is  worthy  and  needful 
of  his  guardianship.  Religious,  speculative,  emo- 
tional, imaginative  and  aggressively  masculine  he 
has  found  in  woman  food  for  his  spiritual  appe- 
tite, for  the  idealism  that  haunts  him,  for  the  af- 
fectionate impulses  of  his  being,  for  his  hunger 
for  the  aesthetic  and  for  his  craving  to  protect 
the  weak  and  defenceless. 

It  has  been  said  and  with  much  truth  that  the 
world  is  as  much  indebted  to  Ireland  for  the 
romantic  as  it  is  to  Greece  for  the  philosophical 
and  Rome  for  the  juridical.  It  is  equally  true  to 
assert  that  the  chivalrous  which  is  so  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  romantic  proceeded  in  its  earliest 
and  most  conspicuous  form  from  the  poetic  soul 
of  the  western  Gael.  The  most  primitive  serious 
attempt  to  propound  with  something  like  com- 
pleteness, canons  regulating  knightly  conduct  is 
traceable  to  the  Celtic  race.  Chivalry  in  the  old 
Irish  tales  has  an  importance  that  can  not  be 


[30] 


The  Objects  of  Men's  Reverence 


located  in  the  kindred  literature  of  Greece  and 
Eome.  It  has  a  prominence  that  brands  it  as  an 
outstanding  feature  of  the  Gaelic  myth  while  its 
presence  in  the  classics,  may  fail  to  arrest  the  at- 
tention or  at  least  but  feebly  challenge  it. 

As  one  of  the  mainsprings  governing  the  knight- 
ly action  of  all  time  has  been  the  idea  of  service 
born  of  the  lure  of  the  aesthetic,  the  desire  for 
self-sacrifice  in  behalf  of  some  beautiful  human 
being,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  Irishman  with  his 
vivid  conception  of  the  glory  that  resides  in  sym- 
metry of  form  became  an  ardent  worshipper  in 
the  temple  of  chivalry.  ^^Eox^beauty  and  amour- 
ousness,  the  Gaels,  "  says  an  old  Irish  proverb, 
maintaining  that  the  aesthetic  was  the  principal 
objective  towards  which  its  emotionalism  im- 
pelled the  heart  of  the  pagan  Gael.  Perhaps  in 
none  of  the  literatures  of  the  world  is  there  any- 
thing like  the  homage  which  the  Irish  paid  to  the 
form  which  beauty  inhabited.  Minutely  painted 
pictures  glowing  with  the  light  of  an  exuberant 
imaginativeness  tell  the  reader  constantly  of  the 
lure  there  was  in  human  beauty  for  the  Celt.  Such 
a  description  is  Cathbad's  account  of  Deirdre 
whose  cheeks  were 

''Crimson  like  fox-gloves,  and  a  faultless  treasure 
Of  teeth  like  autumn  snow,  and  two  curved  lips 
Red  like  red-rowan  fruit  o'er  shining  snow." 

Even  in  a  man  beauty  was  adored.  This  was 
as  much  part  of  Cuchulainn  as  his  might  of  arm. 

[31] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


In  the  Intoxication  of  the  Ultonians  the  warriors 
would  not  wound  him  because  of  his  beauty,'' 
for  according  to  a  proverb,  beauty  as  well  as 
wealth  and  worth  was  cogent  enough  to  transform 
the  hatred  of  an  enemy  into  love.  Aye,  over  the 
very  sprites  of  the  viewless  world  it  could  cast  its 
spell  for  when  Carmun  died  the  hosts  of  fairy 
hovered  over  her  prostrate  form  to  sing  their 
weird  laments  desiring  because  of  the  delight 
of  her  beauty  to  keen  and  raise  the  first  wailing 
over  her."  The  aesthetic  in  fact  all  over  the 
broad  face  of  nature,  animate  as  well  as  inani- 
mate, appealed  to  the  old  Irish.  Moy  Mel,  their 
pagan  Elysium,  as  depicted  in  the  sagas  is  a  be- 
wildering maze  of  scintillating  beauty  where 
everything  is  crowned  with  loveliness  from  the 
trees  in  perennial  bloom  to  the  maiden  mated  with 
all  the  glories  that  flesh  and  blood  and  gorgeous 
robes  can  confer. 

Impelled  by  this  idealism  men  went  to  great 
lengths  to  serve  the  fair  sex.  Eespect  for  woman 
was  part  of  the  knightly  vow  of  Eed  Branch  and 
Fenian  heroes.  No  matter  how  tumultuous  the 
anger  that  vexed  the  soul  of  Cuchulainn,  a  suppli- 
ant woman  could  dispel  by  song  or  prayer  the 
fury  that  raged  within  him.  He  was  wont  to  speak 
of  the  honour  of  his  wife  as  one  of  the  dearest 
things  in  life  to  him.  He  considered  the  ^^pre- 
cedence of  his  wife  over  all  Ultonia's  ladies"  as 
worthy  of  his  ambition  as  the  sovereignty  of  Erin 
and  the  champion's  portion.   He  put  her  highest 


[32] 


The  Objects  of  Men^s  Reverence 


interests  on  the  same  plane  as  the  attainment  of 
that  pride  of  position  and  honour  for  which  his 
soul  most  hungered.  For  the  mere  sake  of  giving 
pleasure  to  ladies  he  oftentimes  performed  deeds 
of  wonder.  Once  as  he  was  faring  to  royal 
Cruachan  in  the  west  with  a  gentlemanly  instinct 
that  is  quite  modern  he  executed  special  feats  to 
destroy  the  monotony  of  the  journey  for  some 
fair  attendants.  It  was  such  courtesy  which 
doubtless  contributed  to  his  being  of  '^victory- 
loving  women  beloved. ' '  Men  were  prepared  to 
go  to  any  extreme,  even  to  the  point  of  losing  their 
lives  for  the  sake  of  a  lady's  fair  regard.  Witness 
the  promise  of  love  of  the  diplomatic  Findabair, 
daughter  of  Maeve,  forging  battle-fury  in  the 
hearts  of  heroes  in  an  episode  of  the  Tain.  The 
very  terms  they  used  when  speaking  of  their  wives 
told  of  a  striking  delicacy  of  attitude  towards 
women  in  an  age  of  untamed  prehistoric  vigour. 
When  Goll  bade  farewell  to  his  wife  he  spoke 
of  her  as  the  ''clear  one  of  rosy  cheeks"  and 
"gentle  one  of  red  lips"  whose  soulful  songs 
coming  from  the  "red  mouth  that  was  musical" 
so  often  brought  peace  to  his  heart. 

Not  only  did  men  act  through  this  inspiration 
Avith  special  zest  under  the  impulse  of  duty  or 
politeness  but  they  sometimes  seemed  neglectful 
of  patriotic  and  other  principles  when  seized  by 
its  intoxicating  injfluence.  Cuchulainn  himself 
who  was  always  so  unswerving  on  the  path  of 
honour  momentarily  neglected  his  staunch  loyalty 


[33] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


to  his  beloved  Uladh  out  of  tender  feeling  for 
Maeve.  With  diplomatic  acuteness  she  pitted  his 
sense  of  chivalry  against  his  warrior  zeal  for 
Ulster  appealing  to  him  to  shield  her  retreating 
army  even  though  it  was  his  foe,  and  she  proved 
victor.   At  the  Feast  of  Bricriu  the  very  ring  of 
the  contending  voices  of  women  was  capable  of 
generating  in  a  warrior  band  a  lust  for  battle 
that  was  more  instinctive  than  rational.  With 
aimless  rage  they  swung  their  mighty  swords  and 
dealt  stout  blows  to  one  another  knowing  no 
prompting  motive  save  that  in  some  confused  way 
they  felt  their  ladies  grieved.    Their  passionate 
tumult  seemed  a  natural  responsive  echo  to  the 
,  excited  cries  of  their  women  folk.    It  was  this 
i  spiritual  chivalry  too,  which  gave  the  Gael  the 
f  idea  of  making  mortal  man  seek  a  fairy  lover 
\   whom  in  defiance  of  nature's  dictates  and  manly 
;   tradition,  he  should  be  content  to  recognise  as  his 
superior  within  his  homestead. 

When  these  canons  of  chivalry  were  violated 
by  a  man,  popular  sentiment  marked  him  out  as 
fated  for  bitterness.  A  standard  example  of  the 
curse  thus  supposed  to  fall  upon  the  erring  one 
was  that  which  overtook  the  whole  province  of 
Ulster  for  a  display  of  serious  rudeness  towards 
a  lady.  The  blight  of  a  perennial  malediction 
rested  on  the  Ulstermen  for  forcing  Macha  in  her 
travail  to  vie  in  speed  with  a  racing  chariot.  Thus 
was  a  tradition  embedded  in  ancient  lore  that  a 
periodic  debility  overcame  the  inhabitants  of  a 

[34] 


The  Objects  of  Men's  Reverence 


whole  province  for  want  of  gentleness  to  a  woman 
that  it  might  be  a  signal  warning  to  all  the  land 
that  in  the  sanctum  of  the  Irish  heart  the  fair 
sex  held  a  shrine  protected  by  most  precious  safe- 
guards and  any  serious  slight  offered  to  its 
dignity  would  be  punished  as  a  sacrilege  before  the 
high  altar  of  the  national  honour. 

But  the  nation  went  still  further  along  the  way 
of  idealism  when  paying  its  homage  to  women. 
She  was  given  an  honoured  niche  within  the 
temple  of  the  national  cult  where  the  most  sacred 
and  symbolic  treasures  of  the  race  were  guarded. 
Men  saw  in  her  so  much  of  the  wine  of  national 
inspiration  and  realised  that  she  embodied  in  an 
emphatic  manner  so  much  of  what  was  character- 
istically Celtic  that  they  elevated  her  to  the  realm 
wherein  she  became  the  mystic  and  luminous 
symbol  of  their  land  and  the  pure,  white,  delicate 
object  of  the  amour ous  cravings  of  all  patriotic 
spirits. 

Some  samples  of  these  mystic  imaginings  are 
worthy  of  production  here.  When  Niall,  son  of 
Eocaid,  in  the  daring  of  his  heart  went  through 
the  ordeal  of  accepting  a  kiss  from  a  mysterious 
hag  of  dreadful  mien  his  courage  was  repaid  by 
a  most  pleasing  change  in  the  appearance  of  this 
creature.  The  hideous  form  that  confronted  him 
I  vanished,  supplanted  by  that  of  a  maiden  of  sur- 
Ipassing  loveliness.  The  wonderful  metamorphosis 
was  seemingly  effected  to  convey  the  lesson  that 


[35] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


those  who  wish  for  the  cherished  affection  of  the 
great  lady,  Eire,  whom  this  figure  symbolised, 
must  shirk  no  horrors  for  her  sake.  '^I  am  the 
sovereignty  of  Erin,"  said  the  new  wooer  of  Niall. 
She  is  described  as  having  ^Hwo  blunt  shoes  of 
white  bronze  between  her  little  snow-white  feet 
and  the  ground.  A  costly  full-purple  mantle  she 
wore,  with  a  broach  of  white  silver  in  the  clothing 
of  the  mantle.  Shining  pearly  teeth  she  had,  an 
eye  large  and  queenly,  and  lips  red  as  rowan- 
berries.'' 

Other  striking  evidence  exists  of  the  use  of 
woman  as  a  symbol  of  Ireland.  The  ancient 
name  of  Ireland  is  identical  with  that  of  a  mythical 
goddess  or  queen  and  the  attributes  of  this  lady 
have  frequently  been  applied  in  mystic  language 
to  that  country.  This  fascinating  conception  has 
roamed  through  the  souls  of  poets  and  called 
forth  the  fine-frenzied  expression  of  their  visions 
for  centuries.  Some  of  the  most  heart-searching 
verses  of  the  land  have  had  this  tender  mysticism 
as  their  highest  and  most  enduring  note.  See 
what  passionate  tenderness  lives  in  the  lines  of 
Fergusin 's  Cean  Duv  Deelish,  symbolic  of  Ireland, 
as  they  tell  of  the  pure  fire  of  the  patriot  lover 
for  the  Dear  Black  Head. 


''Put  your  head  darling,  darling,  darling, 
Your  darling  black  head  my  heart  above ; 
0  mouth  of  honey  with  the  thyme  for  fragrance, 
Who  with  heart  in  breast  could  deny  you  love  ? 

[36] 


The  Objects  of  Men's  Reverence 

0  many  and  many  a  young  girl  for  me  is  pining, 
Letting  her  locks  of  gold  to  the  cold  winds  free, 
For  me,  the  foremost  of  the  gay  young  fellows, 
But  I'd  leave  a  hundred,  pure  love  for  thee.'^ 

Look  at  the  exquisite  intermingling  of  wrestling 
sorrow  and  buoyant  hope  that  subsists  beneath  the 
glowing  passion  of  Shiela-Ni-Gara,  the  songful 
symbol  of  Ethna  Carbery. 

Shiela-Ni-Gara,  it  is  lonesome  where  you  bide, 
With  plovers  circling  over  and  the  sagans  spreading 
wide. 

With  an  empty  sea  before  you  and  behind  a  wailing 
world. 

Where  the  sword  lieth  rusty  and  the  banner  blue  is 
furled. 

Is  it  a  sail  you  wait,  Shiela?    Yea,  from  the  westering 
sun. 

Shall  it  bring  you  joy  or  sorrow?   Oh !  joy  gladly  won. 
Shall  it  bring  peace  or  conflict?    The  pibroch  in  the 
glen 

And  the  flash  and  crash  of  battle  round  a  host  of  fight- 
ing men. 

Green  spears  of  hope  rise  round  you  like  grass  blades 
after  drouth 

And  there  grows  a  white  wind  from  the  East,  a  red 

wind  from  the  South 
A  brown  wind  from  the  West,  Agra,  a  brown  wind  from 

the  West  — 

But  the  black  winds  from  the  Northern  hills — ^how  can 
you  love  it  best? 


[37] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

Said  Shiela-Ni-Gara,  ' '  Tis  a  kind  wind  and  true, 

For  it  rustled  soft  through  Aeleach's  halls  and  stirred 

the  hair  of  Hugh 
Then  blow  wind  and  snow  wind !   What  matters  storm 

to  me 

Now  I  know  the  fairy  sleep  must  break  and  set  the 
sleepers  free." 

Thus  have  writers  thought  in  prose  or  sung 
in  poetry  from  the  earliest  historic  days  of 
Ireland 's  story  until  the  present  time.  This  note 
of  inspiration  has  been  especially  distinct  after 
the  Anglo-Norman  invasion  in  the  Jacobite  songs 
of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  meditative 
verses  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  century 
Celtic  Eenaissance  literature.  These  periods 
have  been  remarkable  for  a  resurgence  of  Celtism 
and  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  prominence  of 
woman  as  a  symbol  should  have  entered  so  in- 
timately into  the  warp  and  woof  of  literary 
thought  in  its  typically  racial  phases.  We  shall 
present  to  the  reader  one  more  example  of  this 
symbolic  verse  and  we  believe  ourselves  pardon- 
able in  doing  so,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  recent 
and  sublimely  inspired  poems  of  that  type  that 
has  yet  appeared.  It  comes  from  the  pen  of 
Joseph  Mary  Plunkett  who  in  Easter  Week  of 
1916  gave  his  life  for  Ireland.  Its  intense  per- 
sonal feeling  and  apparent  note  of  destiny  exalt 
its  literary  qualities  to  the  level  of  first  class 
poetry.  Addressed  to  Cathleen  Ni  Houlihan,  its 
title  is  The  Little  Black  Eose  shall  be  Red  at  Last. 


[38] 


The  Objects  of  Men's  Reverence 

^'Because  we  share  our  sorrows  and  our  joys 
And  all  your  dear  and  intimate  thoughts  are  mine 
We  shall  not  fear  the  trumpets  and  the  noise 
Of  battle,  for  we  know  our  dreams  divine, 
And  when  my  heart  is  pillowed  on  your  heart 
And  ebb  and  flow  of  their  passionate  flood 
Shall  beat  in  concord  love  through  every  part 
Of  brain  and  body — when  at  last  the  blood 
O'er  leaps  the  final  barrier  to  find 
Only  one  source  wherein  to  spend  its  strength 
And  we  two  lovers,  long  but  one  in  mind 
And  soul,  are  made  one  only  flesh  at  length  ; 
Praise  God  if  this  my  blood  fulfils  the  doom 
When  you  dark  rose,  shall  redden  into  bloom/' 

There  is  yet  another  department  of  Irish  tra- 
dition which  cannot  be  neglected  in  dealing  with 
the  process  of  Gaelic  idealism  of  woman;  that  is 
fairy  lore.  In  this  there  is  abundant  material 
whence  the  student  of  folk-lore  may  extract  the 
most  honeyed  thought  relative  to  the  adoring 
attitude  of  the  Irish  towards  the  feminine  world. 
The  realm  of  spirits  is  peopled  with  attractive 
maidens  who  combine  the  sublimity  and  winning 
elusiveness  of  creatures  of  intangible  essence  with 
most  human  attributes.  Woman  is  spiritualised 
in  them  without  being  dehumanised. 

From  the  misty  land  of  immortal  beauty  came 
these  spirit-maidens  to  woo  the  souls  of  men.  One 
of  the  most  fascinating  of  all  spirit  lovers  in  all 
literature  is  Etain  the  Beloved.  With  beauty  of 
form  transcending  far  the  best  that  earth  could 
boast  of,  she  came  to  make  a  certain  Midir  a 


[39] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


prisoner  in  the  net  of  her  loveliness.  With 
promises  that  were  seductive,  but  pure,  she  told 
him  that  with  her  he  would  find  all  that  was  fairest 
in  colour,  most  enduring  in  joy  and  attractive  in 
melody  in  the  mystery  land  whence  she  came.  ' '  0 
fair  one,  wilt  thou  come  with  me,"  she  said,  ''to 
a  wonderful  land  that  is  mine,  a  land  of  sweet 
music;  there  primrose  blossoms  on  the  hair,  and 
snow-white  the  bodies  from  head  to  toe.  There  no 
one  is  sorrowful  or  silent;  white  the  teeth  there, 

black  the  eyebrows  the  hue  of  the  fox-glove 

on  every  cheek."  Her  appeal  proved  resistless. 
Bound  together  in  deathless  bondage  with  a 
silvery  chain  between  them  the  amorous  pair  left 
the  land  of  Erin  in  the  transfigured  shape  and 
grace  of  two  white  swans  for  the  scenes  of  their 
paradisal  honeymoon. 

The  same  lady  in  the  History  of  Ailill  and 
Etain,  won  the  heart  of  Eochaid,  King  of  Ireland. 
Here,  too,  despite  her  spirit  nature  she  was  Irish 
and  feminine  for  she  loved  the  monarch  for  his 
skill  as  a  raconteur  and  the  splendid  symmetry  of 
his  form.  Strong  and  resistless  as  the  growing 
strength  of  a  hurricane  was  the  affection  this  fairy 
lover  aroused  within  Eochaid.  Its  limits  were 
unknown,  its  power  almost  effaced  individuality 
and  the  end  towards  which  it  tended  was  the  ec- 
static freedom  of  the  spirit.  In  the  quaint,  pithy 
and  fanciful  concreteness  of  the  olden  writer  it 
was  deeper  every  year  ....  endless  like  the  sky 
 a  battle  against  a  shade  ....  *  a  drowning  in 

[40] 


The  Objects  of  Men's  Reverence 


water  ...  a  course  to  heaven  ....  a  love  to  an 
echo."  We  wonder  not  at  this  love-distress  of  the 
King  when  we  read  the  rapturous  description  of 
Etain  in  the  Destruction  of  Da  Derga's  Hostel. 
Her  beauty  gleamed  with  the  purity  of  azure  skies 
and  the  cold  glory  of  a  northern  landscape. 

White  as  the  snow  of  one  night  were  the  two 
hands  ....  and  as  red  as  fox-glove  were  the  two 
clear-beautiful  cheeks.  Dark  as  the  back  of  a  stag- 
beetle  the  two  eyebrows.  Like  a  shower  of  pearls 
were  the  teeth  in  her  head.  Blue  as  a  hyacinth 
were  the  eyes.  Red  as  rowan-berries  the  lips  .... 
The  bright  radiance  of  the  moon  was  in  her  noble 
face:  the  loftiness  of  pride  in  her  smooth  eye- 
brows :  the  light  of  wooing  in  her  regal  eyes  .... 
Verily  of  the  world's  women  'tis  she  was  the 
dearest  and  loveliest  and  justest  that  the  eyes  of 
man  had  ever  beheld."* 

Spirits  other  than  messeng^ers  of  love  were 
also  pictured  as  women.  Death  was  represented 
by  an  optimistic  people  as  a  beautiful  maiden 
stripped  of  everything  that  might  be  forbidding 
and  clothed  with  the  richest  tints  of  fancy.  In 
reality  she  was  regarded  as  an  envoy  of  veiled 
love  for  the  happy  nature  of  the  Celt  always  be- 
held the  brightness  of  God's  smile  behind  the 
darkest  clouds  of  life.  There  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  he  looked  with  eyes  of  atfection  on 
the  messenger  who  came  to  lead  him  through  the 
dark  way  to  the  glory  of  the  unseen  world  with 


*  Revue  Celtiqiie.  Vol.  22.  pp.  15-16. 

[41] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


which  in  spirit  he  was  so  familiar.  It  was  to  Moy 
Mel  he  hoped  to  go  whether  the  entry  thereto  was 
through  the  gates  of  life  or  death.  Once  arrived 
there,  no  matter  how  he  journeyed  thither,  unfail- 
ing life  was  to  be  his.  Whether  the  lure  of  beauty 
or  the  voice  of  death  called  him  to  the  Isles  of  the 
Blessed,  ^Hhe  Land  of  Women, the  personage 
who  accompanied  him  thither  was  always  a  maiden 
whose  soul  spoke  of  love  in  the  mystic  land  where 
the  best  of  his  race  should  receive  its  supreme 
reward. 


[42] 


CHAPTER  IV 


Feminine  Moeauty  in  Pagan  Days 

BEFORE  we  leave  the  days  of  heroic  story 
one  of  the  brightest  features  of  that  epoch 
must  claim  our  attention.  The  flower  of 
highest  grade  in  the  garden  of  Irish  womanhood 
has  yet  to  display  its  glory  to  us.  That  flower  is 
the  splendid  fealty  of  the  women  of  the  ancient 
Gael  to  moral  principles. 

Some  sayings  exist  which  are  indicative  of  the 
Irish  feminine  sense  of  moral  honour,  and  the  Gael 
seldom  elevated  a  dictum  to  the  plane  of  a  proverb 
which  he  did  not  regard  as  capable  of  verification 
in  his  national  life.  It  was  for  him  as  rationally 
sacrosanct  as  an  axiom  for  ^4t  is  impossible  to 
contradict  a  proverb."  Some  of  these  treasured 
sayings  we  will  quote.  One  of  them  makes  purity  a 
woman's  prime  asset,  for,  it  states  that  modesty 
is  the  beauty  of  women."  The  other  synthesises 
the  glories  of  a  woman  as  embracing  a  proud 
spirit,"  a  spirit  that  accepts  no  dishonour,  as  well 
as  physical  shapeliness. 

That  there  was  a  basis  justifying  the  race  which 
formulated  such  proverbs  as  applicable  to  women 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe.  Emer,  the  wife 
of  Cuchulainn,  was  given  premier  place  in  the 

[43] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


world  by  Bricriu  on  account  of  the  goodness  of 
her  reputation.  We  have  the  extraordinary  spec- 
tacle of  a  pagan  maiden  the  daughter  of  Aengus, 
seeking  perfection  of  continence  for  she  loved 
^Hhe  lot  of  virginity."  There  are  instances  of 
heroic  fortitude  and  infinite  delicacy  of  conscience 
associated  with  the  preservation  of  this  virtue. 
Fial  was  said  to  have  purchased  death  for  herself 
through  pangs  resulting  from  a  sheer  sense  of 
shame  when  her  modesty  was  in  peril.  A  certain 
Luaine  met  a  similar  fate  because  of  an  insult 
offered  to  her  for  ^^she  died  of  shame  and  bash- 
fulness."  A  maid  named  Gile  on  whom  mascu- 
line eyes  accidentally  fell  as  she  bathed  ^^died  of 
shame  and  found  death  in  the  well. ' '  Eithne,  we 
are  told,  was  miraculously  sustained  in  life  by  the 
true  God  without  partaking  of  any  food,  as  a 
reward  for  her  purity.  When  Ailill  wooed  and 
won  Etain  another  mysterious  intervention  is  sup- 
posed to  have  saved  her  when  her  honour  was 
seriously  menaced. 

So  characteristic  was  this  feminine  virtue  that 
the  greatest  in  Ireland  regarded  it  as  essential  in 
a  marriageable  woman.  It  was  the  fidelity  of 
Emer  to  her  husband  that  roused  his  spell-bound 
spirit  from  the  enthrallment  of  the  fairy  Fand 
as  with  tear-strewn  face  she  besought  him  to  be 
faithful  to  one  who  had  been  loyal  to  him.  And 
he  was  true  to  Emer  when  he  remembered  that 
one  of  the  arch  qualities  for  which  he  grew  en- 
amoured of  her  was  her  love  of  maiden  honour. 


[44] 


Feminine  Morality  in  Pagan  Days 


Wlien  Art,  son  of  Conn,  in  a  fairy  island  ^'full  of 
wild  apples  and  lovely  birds,  with  little  bees  ever 
beautiful  on  the  tops  of  the  flowers"  met  a 
maiden  who  captured  his  fancy  and  was  deemed 
worthy  to  be  his  wife  she  was  one  ^^fair  ....  in 
chastity."  Eochaid  would  not  have  Etain  when 
he  sought  her  hand  merely  because  of  her  sen- 
suous appeal  to  him;  he  demanded  that  she  have 
steadfastness  and  honour.  ^'With  thee  alone  will 
I  live,"  he  exclaimed,  ^^so  long  as  thou  hast 
honour. ' ' 

So  sacred,  indeed,  did  women  deem  the  mar- 
riage bond  that  rather  than  be  untrue  to  their 
wedded  lords  they  welcomed  death  itself  if  it 
saved  them  from  dishonour.  When  the  sword  of 
Conall  Cernach  overcame  Mesgegra  the  wife  of 
the  doomed  hero,  true  to  his  memory  and  her 
womanhood,  surrendered  her  spirit  to  her  God 
rather  than  sacrifice  her  good  name.  With  a 
mighty  effort  of  soul  she  rent  her  heart  asunder 
for  in  the  quaint  words  of  the  writer  she  lifted 
up  her  cry  of  lamentation  .  .  .  .  and  she  cast  her- 
self backwards  and  she  dead."  Even  the  mere 
memory  of  a  deceased  husband  was  sometimes 
sufficient  to  force  a  widow  to  pay  the  toll  of  death. 
This  supreme  sacrifice  was  regarded  as  a  fitting 
recognition  of  the  unbounded  affection  that  dwelt 
in  the  soul  of  the  Gaelic  wife  for  her  husband. 
Almu  died  of  grief  for  the  one  that  wed  her  and 
the  arrows  of  love  were  fatal  to  Etar  when  she 
saw  her  dead  lord  in  a  dream. 


[45] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


So  highly  did  the  nation  value  this  virtue  of  its 
womanhood  that  it  ordained  grievous  penalties 
for  those  who  tarnished  it.  A  grave  offense  in 
this  matter  was  sometimes  deemed  sufficient  to 
deprive  a  monarch  of  his  throne.  This  happened 
in  the  case  of  Mac  Da  Cherda  who  was  considered 
unworthy  to  preside  over  his  people  since  he  knew 
not  how  to  respect  what  the  people  most  revered. 
Within  the  province  of  Ulster  anyone  who  brought 
to  shame  a  maiden  soul  had  to  face  the  withering 
ire  of  Cuchulainn  for  every  maiden  and  every 
single  woman  that  was  in  Ulster,  they  were  in  his 
ward  till  they  were  ordained  for  husbands. ' '  One 
of  Ireland's  greatest  national  woes  had  its  origin 
in  an  insult  offered  to  a  woman.  Its  story  is  re- 
plete with  suffering.  The  daughter  of  Tuahal 
of  Meath  married  the  King  of  Leinster.  The  lat- 
ter, tiring  of  his  wife,  sought  the  hand  of  her  sis- 
ter Fithir  under  the  pretence  that  he  was  a 
widower.  His  base  scheme  was  successful  until 
Fithir  arrived  at  his  palace.  Then  learning  how 
cruelly  she  had  been  victimized  she  lost  her  life 
in  a  sea  of  shame.  But  Leinster  paid  a  terrible 
price  for  the  deed.  It  was  compelled  to  give  a 
constant  tribute  to  the  Ard-Ri  as  a  penitential 
recompense,  an  exaction  which  spelt  destruction 
for  national  solidarity  for  many  a  day. 

But  punishment  for  woman's  infidelity  was  not 
always  confined  to  men.  If  she  had  been  a  willing 
victim  of  crime  the  law  demanded  that  she  suffer 
for  her  action.   Occasionally  the  wildest  barbaric 


[46] 


Feminine  Morality  in  Pagan  Days 

wrath  was  loosed  against  such  hapless  creatures. 
To  cite  but  one  example,  in  the  Battle  of  Cnucha 
we  find  a  fierce  old  chieftain  condemning  to  the 
tortures  of  the  fiery  stake  the  mother  of  Finn 
whom  he  adjudged  guilty  of  impurity. 

That  the  mind  of  the  race  demanded  and  was 
cognisant  of  this  prime  adornment  of  womanhood 
is  apparent  even  in  the  descriptive  passages  of  the 
tales  which  are  concerned  with  women  and  are 
steeped  in  an  atmosphere  of  purity.  The  Tain 
presents  us  with  a  picture  of  Fedelm,  the  fairy 
prophetess,  which  illustrates  our  contention. 

 Folded  round  her  shape, 

A  bratt  of  leafy  green,  chequered  and  pied 
Was  held  by  a  full  fruit-like,  heavy  clasp 
Over  her  breast.  Her  face  was  rosy  bright. 
Her  eyes  were  laughing,  blue ;  and  her  two  lips 
Were  shapely,  thin  and  red.   Within  her  lips 
Her  teeth  were  glistering,  pearly  —  glimmering  — 
One  might  have  deemed  a  white  rain  shower  of  pearls 
Had  rained  in  there.   Her  bright  long  yellow  hair 
Divided ;  three  gold  tresses  of  it  wound 
About  her  head;  another  long,  gold  tress 
Fell  round  her  

Her  nails  were  trim  and  sharp  and  crimson-stained, 
Whiter  than  snow  in  one  night  softly  fallen, 
The  whiteness  of  her  flesh  was,  where  it  shined 
And  gleamed  athwart  her  quivering,  blown  apparel.'^  ^ 

There  is  nothing  of  the  sensual  in  this  but  a 
cold  brilliancy  and  richness  that  is  suggestive  of 

*  p.  94.  Mary  A.  Hutton. 


[47] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


the  vigorous  beauty  of  northern  lands  rather  than 
the  enervating  glory  of  southern  climes.  Though 
oriental  in  its  riot  of  glistening,  bewitching  colour 
its  rays  of  influence  reach  us  through  a  crystal, 
chastening  atmosphere.  There  is  something  of  an 
elemental  freshness  in  it  which  smacks  of  the 
wild  freedom  of  Celtic  breeses  that  have  no  wan- 
tonness but  soothing  tenderness. 

If  an  explanation  is  to  be  sought  for  this  moral 
rectitude  of  Ireland's  daughters  no  surer  reason 
can  be  found  than  their  devotion  to  the  principles 
of  home  life.  The  domestic  circle  was  the  nursery 
where  the  seedlings  of  the  national  oak  of  Irish 
feminine  purity  were  planted  and  cared  for. 
^  To  verify  this  we  have  only  to  consider  how  de- 
voted woman  w^as  in  the  old  Gaelic  home  to  her 
husband.  This  is  the  acid  test  of  feminine  domes- 
tic rectitude  and  the  pivotal  point  round  which 
most  of  the  family  happiness  revolves.  Without 
it  there  is  an  influence  absent  which  is  absolutely 
essential  for  true  family  life. 

Over  and  over  again  instances  of  deep  matronly 
and  domestic  instincts  can  be  encountered  in  the 
heroines  of  the  tales.  This  sense  of  domesticity 
shone  most  clearly  in  the  sense  of  bereavement 
Avhich  women  manifested  when  their  husbands 
entered  the  sliadowland  of  death.  Take  for  ex- 
ample the  lament  of  Crede,  so  expressive  of  in- 
curabe  loss,  when  she  consigned  to  the  grave  her 
life-mate.  The  simplicity  of  her  words  coupled 
with  their  ebb  and  flow  of  repetition  produces  a 


[48] 


Feminine  Morality  in  Pagan  Days 

note  of  sincerity  clearly  indicative  of  great  and 
lasting  woe.  ^^Sore  suffering  and  0  suffering 
sore  is  the  hero 's  death,  his  death  who  used  to  lie 
by  me. ' '  The  same  sentiment  is  seen  in  the  lament 
of  Emer  over  Cuchulainn  when  the  fatal  spear  slew 
her  valiant  lord.  Eaising  a  keen  over  him  she  let 
the  waves  of  distress  inundate  her  soul  and  died  in 
the  clasp  of  a  sea  of  grief. 

In  other  respects,  also,  the  importanceof  wom- 
an's household  position  was  apparent.  One  of  the 
qualities  of  Emer  most  highly  lauded  by  her  hus- 
band was  her  proficiency  in  attending  to  the  sim- 
ple art  of  home  business:  and  Cuchulainn  seldom 
praised  but  what  was  great  and  impressive  as  a 
national  asset.  The  same  lady  won  laudatory  re- 
marks from  Bricriu  for  the  wisdom  that  adorned 
her  domestic  life.  In  the  War  of  "Words  we  have 
already  seen  that  the  cause  of  feminine  agitation 
was  solicitude  for  the  happiness  of  their  husbands 
on  the  part  of  the  women  and  the  belief  of  each 
noble  dame  that  her  lord  had  no  peer  in  all  the 
land.  Herein  Emer  lauds  her  husband  with  imag- 
inative exuberance  giving  him  a  countenance  like 
unto  the  sun  and  a  soul  dowered  with  a  nobility 
that  no  other  mortal  possessed.  There  is  a  world 
of  primitive  conjugal  affection  in  Goll  when  he 
bade  his  wife  farewell.  With  barbaric  crudeness  he 
mingled  his  blood  with  hers  to  show  how  thorough 
and  fundamental  he  believed  her  loyalty  to  him 
to  be  and  how  in  payment  for  that  affection 
no  nuptial  promises  to  any  other  woman  should 


[49] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


ever  stain  his  manhood.  The  name  of  the  river 
Liffey  perpetuates  the  memory  of  a  woman,  Life, 
whose  loyalty  to  her  lord  was  so  striking  that  his 
mourning  heart  burst  in  twain  as  a  tribute  to  her 
fidelity. 

Though  we  have  not  been  attempting  to  convey 
the  idea  that  Irish  women  in  the  olden  days  were 
perfect  or  anything  approaching  that,  we  did  wish 
to  maintain  that  in  what  we  have  produced  there 
is  evidence  of  a  singularly  high  moral  standard 
in  their  lives  considering  the  dim  beacon  of  re- 
ligious guidance  that  their  pagan  faith  provided. 
Furthermore,  in  the  light  of  this  contention,  we 
think  ourselves  justified  in  believing  that  the 
facts  substantiating  moral  laxity  and  disrespect 
for  women  are  not  sufficiently  weighty  to  warrant 
a  serious  attack  upon  the  exalted  virtue  of  the 
fair  sex  of  pagan  Ireland. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  tales  provide  many 
instances  of  concubinage  we  must  admit  that  it 
was  mainly  prevalent  in  the  ranks  of  the  nobility. 
"Whilst  its  presence  amongst  the  common  people  is 
but  very  meagerly  attested  the  lofty  principles 
governing  sex  relations  are  so  frequently  encoun- 
tered and  so  soaring  in  dignity  that  they  could  not 
be  accounted  for,  had  not  the  roots  of  national  life 
been  embedded  in  a  soil  of  very  considerable  prac- 
tical morality.  Abduction,  indeed,  was  rather 
frequent,  but  it  was  rather  the  outcome  of  sheer 
wildness  of  the  primitive  spirit  that  loved  bravado 
and  acts  that  tried  the  soul  of  courage  than  a  han- 


[50] 


Feminine  Morality  in  Pagan  Days 

kering  for  things  that  were  sensual.  Besides,  with 
the  seizure  was  always  intertwined  a  fight  for  the 
honour  of  the  smuggled  woman  which  proved  the 
battling  mettle  and  uprightness  of  the  defending 
party  as  well  as  the  unrestrained  spirit  of  the 
abductor.  Aodh,  for  instance,  in  the  Abduction 
of  Eargna,  roused  by  the  banter  of  Finn  fought  a 
fierce  dual  with  Conan  who  sought  by  violent 
means  to  woo  a  maiden. 

Hence  we  cannot  accept  Pflugk-Hartung's 
statement  that  ^^the  position  of  the  wife  and 
daughter"  in  ancient  Ireland  ^^was  one  of  supreme 
subjection''  in  a  moral  or  a  fortiore  in  a  social 
sense.  True,  indeed,  statements  hostile  in  a  gen- 
eral way  to  womanhood  are  to  be  found  in  Irish 
literature  but  these  should  not  invite  serious  preju- 
dice against  it.  Such  as  these  are  discoverable  in 
all  literature  and  in  Irish  letters  any  unfavourable 
attitude  they  might  create  should  be  practically 
eliminated  by  the  vastly  superior  array  of  fine 
tributes  lined  up  in  support  of  the  ladies  of  the 
Gael.  Besides  some  of  these  when  contextually 
interpreted  do  not  seem  to  be  uttered  in  a  serious 
mood  but  were  dictated  by  the  racial  desire  for 
pungent  wit  and  rich  humour. 

Just  to  give  some  idea  of  what  they  were  like 
we  will  produce  a  few  of  them  here.  From  a  piece  | 
\  called  Eve 's  Lament  we  take  the  excerpt ' '  so  long 
1  as  they  endure  in  the  light  of  day,  so  long  women 
I  will  not  cease  from  folly."   This  condemnation  is  ^ 
!  so  vague  that  it  carries  with  it  no  special  bitterness 

[51] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

and  leaves  only  the  impression  of  minor  deficien- 
cies rather  than  any  damning  vices.  The  com- 
mand rings  out  ^^rule  your  wife,"  but  this  is  mere- 
ly equivalent  to  advocating  a  preservation  of  the 
natural  social  order  of  the  homestead.  Perhaps 
some  of  the  most  blighting  of  all  anti-feminine 
dicta  are  those  ascribed  to  King  Cormac  in  his 
instructions  to  his  son  Carbery.  Silly  coun- 
sellors," he  calls  all  womankind:  ''steadfast  in 
hate,  forgetful  of  love,  on  the  pursuit  of  folly,  bad 
among  the  good,  worse  among  the  bad. ' '  The  con- 
demnatory character  of  this  advice  is  so  sweeping 
and  universal  that  by  the  very  force  of  its  ex- 
aggeration it  dispels  all  likelihood  of  veracity. 
Another  says  ''do  not  give  your  wife  authority 
over  you,  for  if  you  let  her  stamp  on  your  foot 
to-night,  she  will  stamp  on  your  head  to-morrow." 
This  seems  bitter  until  we  read  in  the  same  text 
"reprove  your  wife  as  you  would  your  son  or 
your  friend:"  then  one  feels  that  its  harshness 
is  only  apparent  and  formulated  with  a  view  to 
impress  forcibly  the  need  of  preserving  nature's 
authority  in  the  home.  Taking,  then,  evidence 
as  a  whole  into  account  there  seems  to  be  vastly 
more  truth  in  the  words  of  M.  Gaston  Paris  when 
he  praises  that  loyalty  of  the  Irishwoman  to  the 
dictates  of  morality  which  would  be  impossible 
under  the  slavish  conditions  imposed  upon  her  by 
Pflugk-Hartung.  "The  oldest  Irish  literature," 
says  the  French  Celtist,  "furnishes  evidence  of 
the  fidelity  of  the  betrothed  to  her  lover,  of  the 

[52] 


Feminine  Morality  in  Pagan  Days 


wife  to  the  husband  and  of  the  widow  to  her  dead 
mate,  whom  she  laments  and  to  whom  she  remains 
faithful."*  There  were  dark  spots  in  the  sun- 
light of  Irish  pagan  morality  as  in  everything  on 
earth  but  the  gloom  they  induce  was  of  little  ac- 
count when  compared  with  the  brilliancy  that  en- 
veloped them. 

*  Rev.  Celt.  Vol.  15.  p.  407. 


[53] 


CHAPTER  V 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 

LEAVING  the  golden  grey  of  saga  landscape 
we  now  pass  on  to  scenes  more  definite  and 
historical  in  feature  though  scarcely  less  il- 
lumined by  the  glorifying  aureole  of  the  romantic. 
We  go  from  the  glamour  of  the  pagan  period  to 
the  captivating  beauty  and  innocence  of  the 
neophyte  nation  newly  introduced  to  the  mysteries 
of  Christianity.  Here  we  shall  behold  how  when 
the  message  of  the  Master's  Gospel  rang  out  over 
the  hills  and  dales  of  Erin  and  the  people  with 
longing  hearts  hearkened  to  its  welcome  notes, 
the  women  of  the  Gael  were  throbbing  with  ardour 
for  the  treasure  that  had  appeared  in  their  midst. 
They  furnished  some  of  the  most  saintly  minds 
of  the  early  church  and  some  of  the  most  capable 
spirits  that  were  allied  with  sanctity  in  that  youth- 
ful institution. 

That  greatness  of  intellect  and  valuable  material 
for  citizenship  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  saint- 
liness  was  naturally  to  be  expected.  The  qualities 
that  forged  the  way  towards  christian  perfection 
were  those  which  were  fundamentally  neces- 
sary for  national  wholesomeness.  Respect  for 
authority,  justice,  sobriety,  self-denial  and  purity 


[54] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 

of  life  which  are  always  associated  with  those  who 
seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God,  are  the  soundest 
pillars  of  any  kingdom  that  man  may  construct. 
Their  absence  can  only  be  justified  by  materialism 
of  outlook  and  the  nation  that  has  only  this  vision 
is  fetid  at  the  core  and  doomed  to  an  early  death. 
Their  presence  means  the  controlling  hand  of 
idealism  at  the  nation's  helm,  a  force  that  must 
lead  it  triumphantly  against  all  brute  influences 
into  final  success. 

This  effectiveness  of  the  saint  as  a  national 
factor  was  especially  appreciable  in  Ireland.  The 
dominant  note  of  early  Celtic  Christianity  was 
monastic  and  this  was  closely  associated  with  the 
social  and  governmental  machinery  that  prevailed 
in  the  commonwealth.  The  system  upon  which 
Irish  civilisation  was  erected  was  that  of  tribal- 
ism. With  the  government  of  the  church  rigidly 
fashioned  after  and  largely  dependent  on  this  it 
was  only  natural  to  expect  a  considerable  mingling 
of  interest  between  church  and  state  and  a  marked 
unanimity  of  purpose  in  the  pursuit  of  the  ideals 
of  both  organizations.  The  limits  of  the  diocese 
which  was  ruled  by  a  monastic  head  had  to  be 
coterminous  with  those  of  the  tribe-lands.  The 
head  of  the  monastery  had  to  be  selected  from 
some  member  of  the  clan  so  that  the  bond  of 
blood  gave  him  an  interest  in  the  temporalities 
as  well  as  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  people  over 
whom  he  presided.  Other  affinities  existed  be- 
tween the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  institutions  all 

[55] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBIIARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

of  which  tended  to  make  the  fire  of  the  love  of 
God  breeding-ground  for  the  fire  of  patriotism  in 
the  soul  of  the  saint. 

What  was  true  of  the  tribal  character  of  the 
monastery  for  men  was  likewise  verified  in  its 
kindred  establishment  for  women.  The  convent 
was  an  intimate  part  of  tribal  life  whilst  the  im- 
portance of  its  inmates  was  augmented  by  their 
feminine  hold  upon  the  racial  sense  of  reverence 
for  woman  as  well  as  by  its  ofl&cial  connection  with 
the  existing  mode  of  civilisation.  Its  inmates 
wielded  a  powerful  influence  as  women  of  the 
Gael  and  as  Irish  saints. 

Though  countless  numbers  of  Irish  maidens  are 
to  be  met  with  in  the  early  days  of  the  church's 
history  who  showed  in  their  lives  a  sublimity 
worth  recording  we  must  content  ourselves  with 
presenting  the  few  whose  careers  are  in  a  marked 
degree  representative  of  those  of  the  many, 

To  begin  with  Patrician  times  we  find  that  some 
of  the  most  attractive  episodes  in  the  life  of  the 
national  apostle  were  based  on  the  guileless  char- 
acter and  lofty  ideals  of  w^omen.  In  these  first 
fruits  reaped  by  the  great  reaper  there  was,  as 
it  were,  a  symbolic  guarantee  of  the  elevating  in- 
fluence which  the  christian  daughters  to  come 
would  wield  within  the  land  of  Erin.  In  the 
western  part  of  the  country  two  maiden  figures, 
fresh  as  the  flowers  of  the  field  and  taintless  as 
unstained  rivulets,  were  wafted  in  upon  the  path- 
way of  the  missionary  as  if  to  refresh  his  weary 


[56] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


soul  and  give  him  the  strength  of  a  magnificent 
hope  in  the  christian  future  of  the  nation  that 
could  present  such  early  flowers  to  the  garden  of 
the  Lord.  Of  royal  birth  they  were  and  of  royal 
mind  as  was  well  shown  in  their  thirst  for  truth 
and  the  effusive  manner  in  which  Patrick  mlled 
to  satisfy  their  well-meant  curiosity.  He  was  ques- 
tioned as  to  the  nature  of  his  God:  he  told  them 
that  He  was  the  Being  who  would  satisfy  the  de- 
mand of  their  Celtic  natures  by  the  expression  of 
his  power  and  grandeur  through  the  energy  and 
beauty  of  all  that  their  senses  perceived  in  the 
spaces  of  the  heavens  and  the  expanses  of  the 
earth,  His  God  made  the  rushing  waters  of  the 
river,  the  light  of  the  sun,  the  beauty  of  the  sleep- 
ing valleys,  the  majesty  of  the  adoring  mountains 
and  the  isleted  gems  of  the  sea. 

On  another  occasion  the  daughter  of  Daire 
brought  an  element  of  romance  into  the  story  of 
early  Irish  Christianity  which  though  earthly  was 
pure  and  merited  to  be  elevated  by  the  prayers 
of  the  apostle  to  the  realm  of  the  supernatural. 
With  Patrick  always  went  Benignus  whom  he 
loved  for  his  innocence  and  sweet  singing  and  it 
was  this  youth  whose  attractions  won  the  affec- 
tion of  an  Irish  maiden.  So  violent  did  her  love 
for  him  become  that  a  deadly  sickness  settled  upon 
her.  Patrick  saved  her  life,  purified  her  affections 
and  directed  them  into  heavenly  channels.  Her 
passion  was  terrestrial  but  untainted  and  Patrick 
deemed    it    worthy    of    transformation  into 


[57] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


supernatural  fidelity  to  the  Supreme  Lover.  Her 
awakening  from  the  spells  of  worldly  love  is  pre- 
served in  verse  for  us  by  Aubrey  De  Vere. 

' '  One  day  through  grief  of  love 

The  Maiden  lay  as  dead ;  Benignus  shook 
Dews  from  the  fount  above  her,  and  she  woke, 
With  heart  emancipate  that  outsoared  the  lark, 
Lost  on  the  blue  heavens.    She  loved  the  Spouse  of 
souls.'' 

In  another  woman  we  are  provided  with  a 
splendid  example  of  that  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
which  is  so  necessary  for  working  of  christian 
principles  in  the  human  soul.  This  was  the  wife 
of  Laoghaire,  the  High  King  of  Ireland.  Though 
the  monarch  refused  to  desert  the  pagan  religion 
his  wife  embraced  the  new  faith  and  manifested 
her  gratitude  to  the  apostle  for  the  gift  he  had 
given  her  by  a  permanent  donation  to  the  church. 
' '  She  bound  herself  to  give  a  sheep  out  of  every 
flock  she  possessed  each  year  and  a  portion  of 
every  meal  she  should  take  during  her  life  to  the 
poor  of  God."*  A  like  tribute  to  the  church  she 
ordained  every  property  owner  in  Ireland  should 
give. 

That  these  were  not  exceptions  in  their  virtuous 
behaviour  we  know  from  the  testimony  of  Patrick 
himself.  He  states  that  the  women  of  Ireland  in 
general  displayed  a  magnificent  attitude  towards 
the  new  message  of  self-sacrifice  that  he  brought 


*  Irish  Texts  Society.  Vol.  9.  p.  41. 

[58] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


them.  He  tells  how  in  spite  of  all  opposition  they 
unhesitatingly  became  christians  and  lived  up  to 
the  teachings  of  their  new  faith  in  the  midst  of 
temptation.  Their  parents/'  those  remaining 
pagans,  no  doubt,  ^  instead  of  approving  of  it, 
persecute  and  load  them  with  obloquy;  yet  their 
number  increases  constantly;  and,  indeed,  of  all 
those  that  have  been  thus  born  in  Christ,  I  cannot 
give  the  number,  besides  those  living  in  holy 
widowhood,  and  keeping  continency  in  the  midst 
of  the  world. 

There  is  another  name  which  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  that  of  Patrick  but  which  needed  no 
such  distinguished  affiliation  to  enable  it  to  endure 
in  history.  That  is  the  name  of  Brigid  which  was 
held  by  the  premier  member  of  Ireland's  early 
saintly  womanhood.  Her  memory  is  as  much  part 
and  parcel  of  the  national  and  ecclesiastical  tra- 
dition as  is  that  of  Patrick  himself.  Interest  and 
pride  in  her  glory  is  confined  within  no  provincial 
limitations  but  maintain  an  equal  hold  upon  every 
section  of  the  country.  Her  name  when  borne 
by  a  woman  is  regarded  in  foreign  parts  as  dis- 
tinct a  badge  of  Irish  origin  as  is  that  of  the 
national  apostle  when  its  honours  a  man. 

A  potent  reason  for  this  universal  esteem  for 
Brigid  is  the  fact  that  though  wedded  to  Heaven 
she  was  never  divorced  from  Ireland.  She  was 
not  that  type  of  saint  whose  celestial  tendencies 
make  mental  absentees  from  the  ordinary  life  of 


*  The  Irish  Race,  Aug.  Thebaud.  Quotation,  p.  36. 

[59] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


earth.  She  was  as  practical  in  citizenship  as  she 
was  mystic  in  religion. 

When  the  blood  of  her  countrymen  became 
stirred  and  heated  for  action  her  love  of  peace 
and  her  liberal  conception  of  nationalism  inspired 
her  to  hesitate  at  no  saintly  effort  that  might  heal 
wounded  pride  and  introduce  serenity  where 
serious  strife  might  have  been.  For  this  reason 
great  men  sought  her  aid.  She  was  visited  by 
Conall,  son  of  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  who 
sought  her  protection  against  his  brother  Carbery 
whose  malice  menaced  him  for  the  sake  of  a 
kingdom.  With  a  solicitude  that  was  truly  mater- 
nal mingled  with  an  element  of  romanc  that  was 
mediaeval  she  covered  with  her  protecting 
presence  the  troops  of  Conall  as  they  marched  to 
the  field  of  battle.  A  clash  was  frustrated  and 
the  would-be  contestants  were  compelled  to  depart 
with  a  kiss  of  peace  whilst  the  name  of  Brigid  as 
a  peacemaker  and  a  benefactor  of  the  policy  of 
national  unity  was  universally  applauded. 

However  where  diplomacy  failed  to  adjust  a 
dispute  on  a  basis  of  fairness  she  was  not  the  one 
to  prevent  the  arms  of  the  warrior  seeking  a  vin- 
dication of  principle.  On  this  same  Conall  for 
whom  she  obtained  peace  from  Carbery  she  after- 
wards bestowed  her  benediction  and  relying  on 
its  sustaining  power  he  led  his  men  to  triumph  on 
\  the  field  of  strife.  In  the  Battle  of  Allen  a  singular 
tale  is  narrated  which,  whatever  its  worth  may 
be  in  the  realm  of  sober  history,  is  decidedly  in- 


[60] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


teresting  as  a  medium  for  the  study  of  the 
national  belief  in  Brigid's  local  patriotism.  Herein 
as  a  Leinster  woman  she  championed  the  cause 
of  her  native  province  against  external  aggression, 
and  though  her  action  may  not  redound  to  her 
credit  as  a  nationalist  because  of  its  encourage- 
ment of  provincial  strife  it  showed  the  warmth 
of  her  tribal  sentiments  which  amongst  the  Gael 
as  a  race  were  the  secret  of  intellectual  national; 
unity  even  though  they  were  a  stumbling  block  in 
the  way  of  the  organic  solidarity  of  the  common- 
wealth. The  followers  of  the  0  'Neill  were  waging 
war  on  the  men  of  Leinster  whilst  in  the  language 
of  Whitley  Stokes  ^  ^  Columbkille  and  Brigid"  were 
heartening,  like  Homeric  heroes  their  respective 
clans  in  battle. ' '  As  the  tide  of  conflict  ebbed  and 
flowed,  according  to  the  old  writer,  great  was  the 
agitation  of  the  saintly  scion  of  the  race  of  Niall 
who  feared  with  a  great  fear  when  he  perceived 
that  the  great  woman  of  Kildare  was  pitted 
against  his  Ulster  clansmen.  ^^Now  in  that  battle 
the  mind  of  Columbkille  did  not  rest  or  stay  for^ 
the  Hy  Neill,  for  above  the  battalion  of  Leinster 
he  saw  Brigid  terrifying  the  hosts  of  Conn's  half. ' ' 
Thus  did  the  popular  imagination  summon  her 
from  the  realm  of  the  dead  to  shield  the  martial 
honour  of  the  province  she  loved  so  well  in  life 
and  to  match  her  saintly  influence  against  that  of 
Columbkille,  the  most  noted  masculine  saint  of 
Irish  stock. 

In  more  reposeful  scenes  than  these  Brigid  won 
[6i] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


renown.  Ireland  in  her  day  was  noted  far  be- 
yond its  shores  for  the  hospitality  of  its  people. 
The  providing  of  good  cheer  for  the  friend  and 
the  stranger  was  long  the  custom  there  before  the 
coming  of  Patrick  and  the  monastic  usage  of 
maintaining  a  public  guest-house  did  not  accom- 
plish a  social  revolution  in  the  life  of  the  Gael 
but  simply  gave  the  sanction  of  religion  to  a  well- 
established  habit.  Hospitality  was  a  part  of  the 
business  of  the  state ;  it  was  the  glory  of  the  palace 
and  the  pride  of  the  humblest  home.  Brigid  as 
the  head  of  a  great  monastery  shone  as  the  dis- 
penser of  good  cheer  and  as  an  entertainer  of 
guests.  She  received  with  the  kindliness  native 
to  her  race  men  distinguished  for  spirituality, 
}  /  statecraft  and  various  branches  of  learning  whilst 
[/  the  sunshine  of  her  comforting  smile  warmed  the 
/  cold  hearts  of  the  poor  and  the  outcast.  Kings 
sought  her  counsel  and  favour  and  bishops  learned 
wisdom  at  her  feet  whilst  erring  ones  went  away 
consoled. 

Even  for  literature  she  found  time  despite  all 
her  responsibilities.  A  poem  in  her  native  tongue 
on  ^The  Virtues  of  St.  Patrick'  is  attributed  to 
her.  In  prose  she  is  supposed  to  have  written  a 
small  treatise  entitled  ^The  Quiver  of  Divine 
Love'  and  an  Epistle  to  St.  Aid  of  Degill.  She 
encouraged  others  to  love  letters  and  by  her  ad- 
vice and  example  helped  to  make  the  monastery  of 
Kildare  as  remarkable  for  its  culture  as  for  its 
piety. 

[62] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


It  is,  however,  in  religion  that  her  supreme  hold 
upon  the  mentality  of  the  Gael  is  rooted.  Her 
name,  with  that  of  Patrick  and  Columbkille,  has 
always  been  accepted  as  completing  that  trinity 
of  Ireland's  greatest  saints  and  as  saerM  to  tra- 
dition as  the  memory  of  the  most  successful  of 
national  apostles  and  that  of  the  noblest  of  the 
Hy  Neill  who  had  the  most  patriotic  heart  that 
ever  beat  within  the  bosom  of  a  saint.  Thus  have 
the  Irish  people  erected  through  Brigid  an  en- 
during memorial  in  their  literature  and  tradition 
to  one  of  the  noblest  of  their  womankind,  to  one 
who  so  proudly  partook  of  the  work  of  developing 
the  highest  aspect  of  the  national  mentality,  its 
keenness  of  ^asion  of  the  spiritual  world.  Actuated 
by  such  a  desire  we  find  a  writer  in  the  Leabar 
Breac  paying  a  rapturous  tribute  to  the  surpassing 
mastery  of  things  spiritual  that  was  Brigid 's 
heritage.  There  was  not  in  the  world  one  of 
more  bashfulness  of  modesty  than  this  holy  virgin 

 She  was  abstinent,  unblemished,  fond  of 

prayer,  patient,  rejoicing  in  God's  commands, 

benevolent,  forgiving,  charitable  And  hence 

in  things  created  her  type  is  the  Dove  among 
birds,  the  Vine  among  the  trees,  and  the  sun  above 
the  stars.  She  was  regarded,  above  all,  as  the 
national  protectress  of  that  virtue  so  treasured 
by  Ireland,  purity.  In  the  Felire  of  Aengus,  all 
the  virgins  of  Ireland  were  confided  to  the  pro- 
tection of  Brigid  that  in  her  inspiring  example 


♦Ireland's  Ancient  Schools  and  Scholars.  Healy.  Quot.  p.  1B5. 

[63] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


they  might  find  that  feminine  nobility  necessary 
for  the  welfare  of  their  souls  and  the  moral  sound- 
ness of  the  commonwealth. 

As  an  ecclesiastical  ruler  she  also  did  much  to 
make  her  name  endure  in  the  religious  traditions 
of  Ireland.  Many  houses  of  piety  outside  the 
monastery  of  Kildare  obeyed  the  Brigidine  rule, 
while  evidence  is  not  lacking  for  the  assumption 
that  she  and  some  of  her  successors  invaded  the 
domain  of  church  officialdom  proper  to  men  and 
claimed  in  some  respects  the  obedience  due  to 
high  dignitaries.  It  seems  very  likely  that  some 
of  the  Abbesses  of  Kildare  enjoyed  marked  juris- 
diction within  the  diocese  of  that  name  in  things 
1  that  pertained  to  the  episcopal  office.  On 
u  the  authority  of  Archbishop  Healy  we  have  it  that 
!  ^^the  lady-abbesses  of  Kildare  enjoyed  a  kind  of 
primacy  over  all  the  nuns  of  Ireland  and,  more- 
over, were  in  some  sense  independent  of  episcopal 
jurisdiction,  if  indeed,  the  Bishops  of  Kildare 
were  not  to  some  extent  dependent  on  them.''* 

And  even  if  all  these  facts  of  ancient  times  were 
consigned  to  oblivion  the  vital  influence  of  her 
memory  in  the  world  of  the  modern  Gael  would 
be  quite  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  personality 
from  which  it  emanated  centuries  ago  must  have 
been  a  commanding  one.  Irish  manhood  re- 
members her  as  the  acme  of  glory  of  its  woman- 
hood and  it  feels  stronger  and  more  sanguine 

*  Ibid.  p.  137. 

[64] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


every  day  in  the  face  of  all  difficulties  bolstered 
up  by  the  sustaining  reflection  that  the  companions 
of  its  joy  and  sorrow  and  ultimate  triumph  is  the 
feminine  factor  of  which  Brigid  is  the  spiritual 
and  patriotic  archetype.  Multitudes  of  societies 
pledged  to  the  support  of  the  twin  ideals  of  faith 
and  nationality  act  under  the  patronage  of  her 
protection.  Her  memory  survives  in  the  names' 
of  a  host  of  parishes  and  townlands  throughout 
the  country.  Churches,  ancient  and  modern, 
within  and  beyond  the  seas  of  Ireland  preserve 
her  name.  The  very  topography  of  Ireland  con- 
spires to  keep  the  memory  of  Brigid  ever  fresh 
in  the  soul  of  the  Gael.  Her  holy  fountains  strew 
the  land  where  her  devotees  come  in  crowds  to 
seek  her  healing  power  for  wound  of  soul  an^, 
body.  In  a  word  all  that  lives  of  her  in  the  Gaelic 
memory  helps  to  wield  with  powerful  force  the 
hammer  that  drives  home  conviction  of  woman's 
domineering  part  in  the  spiritual  regeneration  of 
the  Irish  race.  It  tells  too  of  the  need  of  un- 
swer^dng  adherence  to  the  spiritual  tenets  of 
Brigid  for  the  preservation  of  sterling  nationality 
for  it  shows  the  potency  of  a  woman  to  help 
that  essentially  Celtic  attribute  of  immaterialism 
of  outlook  which  has  ultimately  wrested  many  and 
many  a  time  the  nation  from  its  death  grasp,  and 
preserved  intact  its  corporate  sense  of  racial  dis- 
tinctness and  individuality.  It  is  a  reminder  that 
the  nation  which  for  six  and  a  half  centuries, 


[65] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

according  to  Cambrensis,  kept  a  mysterious  fire 
continually  burning  at  Kildare  in  honour  of 
Brigid,  has  still  the  fire  of  admiration  in  its  heart 
for  one  of  its  greatest  benefactors. 

Another  saintly  woman  who  bore  a  striking 
resemblance  to  the  great  one  of  Kildare  was  St. 
Ita,  the  Mary  of  Munster.  Of  illustrious  lineage  she 
proved  herself  in  the  assumed  humility  of  her  life 
to  possess  a  magnitude  of  soul  exceeding  that  of 
any  of  her  ancestors.  She  loved  the  things  of  the 
spirit  but  did  not  cut  herself  adrift  from  the 
mundane  things  of  her  island  home.  She  was  a 
saint  not  only  for  heaven  but  for  Ireland  and 
sought  to  give  a  spiritual  elevation  to  the  tem- 
poral activities  of  her  countrymen.  When  the 
Hy-Conall  clan  appealed  to  her  for  victory  in 
battle,  won  by  affection  for  her  kin  and  the  un- 
sullied honour  of  her  tribe,  she  girt  the  clansmen 
around  with  the  conquering  weapons  of  her 
prayers. 

For  learning,  too,  she  had  a  strong  desire.  In 
the  Felire  there  lives  a  beautiful  hymn  of  which 
she  was  the  author.  It  reveals  a  rare  simplicity 
of  soul,  a  touching  familiarity  of  treatment  of  the 
spiritual  and  the  Celtic  tribalism  of  conception 
which  intertwines  happily  with  warmth  of  feeling. 

Little  Jesus,  little  Jesus, 
Shall  be  nursed  by  me  in  my  dear  Disert : 
Though  a  cleric  may  have  many  jewels, 
All  is  deceit  but  little  Jesus. 


[66] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 

A  nurseling  I  nurse  in  my  house, 

It  is  not  the  nurseling  of  a  low-born  clown, 

It  is  Jesus  with  his  heavenly  host. 

That  I  press  to  my  heart  each  night. 

The  fair  Jesus,  my  good  life. 
Demands  my  care  and  resents  neglect 
The  King  who  is  Lord  of  all. 
To  pray  him  not  we  shall  be  sorry. 

It  is  Jesus,  the  noble,  the  angelical, 
Not  at  all  a  tear-worn  cleric, 
That  is  nursed  by  me  in  my  dear  Disert, 
Jesus,  the  Son  of  the  Hebrew  maiden. 

The  sons  of  chiefs,  the  sons  of  Kings, 
Into  my  district  though  they  may  come, 
It  is  not  from  them  that  I  expect  wealth, 
More  hopeful  for  me  is  my  little  Jesus. 

Make  ye  peace,  0  daughters. 

With  him  to  whom  your  fair  tributes  are  due, 

He  rules  in  his  mansion  above  us. 

Though  he  be  little  Jesus  in  my  lap." 

And  as  she  loved  learning  for  herself  so  she 
desired  to  communicate  it  to  others,  and  her 
efforts  in  this  respect  produced  some  very  notable 
results.  To  mention  but  one  there  is  St.  Brendan. 
For  his  early  mental  development  she  was 
responsible.  Thus  was  she  intellectual  mother  of 
as  masterly  and  daring  a  soul  as  early  christian 
Ireland  can  claim.  As  fearless  of  the  elements  as 
he  was  strong  in  virtue  he  cared  not  for  the  terrors 


[67] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


of  the  Atlantic.  Drawn  on  by  that  peculiar  desire 
of  the  Celt  to  probe  the  depths  of  the  unknown 
he  is  credited  with  being  bold  and  clever  enough 
to  have  probably  discovered  America  by  the  very 
crude  means  at  his  disposal.  No  doubt  much  of 
that  vigour  of  mind  and  manliness  was  the  product 
of  the  fostering  care  of  Ita  and  we  cannot  help 
feeling  that  if  she  accomplished  nothing  else  her 
share  in  the  development  of  Brendan  would  be 
sufficient  to  mark  hers  as  a  queenly  intellect 
donating  a  good  to  her  native  Munster  spiritually 
and  temporarily  that  can  be  measured  by  no 
miserly  calculations. 

In  a  different  sphere  from  that  of  Brigid  and 
Ita  lived  and  worked  Eonnat,  the  pious  mother  of 
St.  Adamnan.  Determining  to  remain  in  the 
world  she  became  instrumental  in  giving  to  her 
country  one  of  the  greatest  of  its  saintly  citizens. 
She  moulded  the  infant  mind  of  him  who  in 
maturity  was  to  preserve  for  us  in  the  Life  of 
Columba  that  human  and  fascinating  picture  of 
his  beloved  master.  But  besides  that  she  was  the 
indirect  means  of  effecting  a  social  revolution 
freighted  with  far-reaching  benefits  for  her  nation. 
As  late  as  her  time  the  women  of  the  Gael  revelling 
in  the  young  vigour  of  the  race  oftentimes 
cherished  the  excitement  of  the  battle-field  and 
fought  side  by  side  with  their  men.  This  was 
without  doubt  degrading  to  the  feminine  nature 
even  though  it  was  often  inspired  by  heroic  sen- 
timents.   It  was  one  of  these  debasing  features 


[68] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


of  the  custom  which  was  responsible  for  the  action 
of  Eonnat  which  culminated  in  the  elimination  of 
her  sex  from  the  field  of  battle.  On  one  occasion, 
when  travelling  with  her  son,  seeing  the  harrowing 
results  of  feminine  strife  she  was  stricken  with 
horror  and  pleaded  with  her  child  to  emancipate 
women.  Her  request  met  with  success  for  the 
voice  of  Adamnan  raised  in  protest  won  for  all 
time  exemption  from  the  duty  of  carrying  arms 
for  the  women  of  Erin. 

As  if  to  show  the  sublimity  of  this  task  old 
literature  tells  us  that  before  Adamnan  could  in 
this  respect  become  the  liberator  of  women  he  had 
to  prove  himself  worthy  by  the  cleansing  force  of 
great  suffering.  Furthermore  we  are  informed 
that  Heaven  itself  took  special  notice  of  the  prob- 
lem that  was  his.  In  Adamnan 's  Law  in  the  Book 
of  Raphoe  there  is  recorded  a  supernatural  inter- 
ference in  behalf  of  the  women  of  the  Gael.  The 
story  is  replete  with  delicate  sentiments  towards 
womanhood  and  insists  upon  its  supernatural  dig- 
nity and  domestic  sacredness.  After  fourteen 
years,"  it  says,  Adamnan  obtained  this  law  from 
God  and  this  is  the  cause.  On  Penecost  eve  a 
holy  angel  of  the  Lord  came  to  him,  and  again  at 
Pentecost  after  a  year,  and  seized  a  staff  and 
struck  his  side  and  said  to  him:  Go  forth  into 
Ireland  and  make  a  law  in  it  that  women  be  not 
in  any  manner  killed  through  a  slaughter  or  any 
other  death  ....  Thou  shalt  establish  a  law  in 
Ireland  and  Britain  for  the  sake  of  the  mother 


[69] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

of  each  one,  because  a  mother  has  borne  each  one, 
and  for  the  sake  of  Mary,  mother  of  Jesus  Christ, 
through  whom  all  are  ....  The  sin  is  great  when 
anyone  slays  the  mother  and  sister  of  Christ's 
Mother,  and  her  who  carries  the  spindle  and  who 
clothes  everyone." 

Other  individuals  to  whom  we  would  like  to 
devote  more  space  were  it  available,  we  must 
briefly  mention.  About  the  domestic  life  of  the 
mother  of  Columbkille  facts  are  very  silent.  But 
can  we  not  without  doing  violence  to  our  fancy 
picture  the  patriotic  nobility  of  Ethne  who 
moulded  the  mind  of  the  greatest  saintly  worker 
for  national  honour,  tradition  and  civilisation  that 
Ireland  has  produced.  Indeed,  no  sanctified  mem- 
ber of  the  church  in  any  age  or  clime  could  outdo 
the  child  of  this  mother  in  affection  for  his  native 
land.  Before  Enda  founded  the  noted  monastic 
and  scholarly  institution  of  Aran  he  was  a  rough 
tribal  leader  revelling  in  wild  forays  and  blood- 
shed. The  sweet  and  firm  influence  of  his  sister, 
Fanchea,  robbed  him  of  his  rudeness  and  con- 
verted him  into  a  mystic  lover  of  peaceful  ways. 
Several  others  there  were  of  this  calibre  to  whom 
only  a  special  chapter  could  do  justice. 

Oftentimes  not  only  individuals  but  even  fam- 
ilies possessed  striking  sanctity  and  nobility  of 
heart.  In  the  lives  of  the  saints  and  the  martyr- 
ologies  there  are  many  instances  of  the  collective 
holiness  of  a  high  grade  of  all  the  girls  in  a 
family.   We  read  in  the  martyrology  of  Tallaght 

[70] 


When  Saints  Were  Numerous 


that  the  daughters  of  Baith  in  the  plain  of  the 
river  Liffey  were  so  distinguished  for  their  piety 
as  to  be  honoured  by  a  special  festival  on  the 
second  of  January  when  a  church  was  dedicated 
in  their  honour.  Considering  the  disturbed  state 
of  public  life  the  possibility  of  finding  such  a 
domestic  serenity  is  little  short  of  marvellous.  It 
could  only  occur  in  a  country  where  the  highest 
respect  for  the  sacrosanct  character  of  the  family 
and  the  fundamental  value  of  its  wholesomeness 
for  the  nation  at  large  overshadowed  all  inter- 
tribal broils  and  jealousies.  It  is  noteworthy  too, 
that  in  most  cases  this  type  of  family  was  the 
product  of  woman's  rather  than  man's  influence. 
Such  splendid  replicas  of  the  homestead  at 
Nazareth  were  bound  to  be  not  only  luminous 
centres  of  religion  but  beacon-lights  calling  the 
nation  to  safest  anchorage  within  the  harbour 
of  domestic  sanctity.  There  it  would  find  the 
truest  antidote  for  disintegrating  forces  and  the 
best  guarantee  of  continued  loyalty  to  the  dictates 
of  its  highest  self. 

Before  parting  with  the  saints  we  must  say 
a  word  about  that  virtue  of  chastity  which  was  the 
very  core  of  their  moral  and  mental  greatness 
and  the  ultimate  basis  of  their  usefulness  to  the 
nation.  "We  have  seen  at  length  how  even  in  pagan 
days  it  was  honoured  and  in  this  chapter  we  have 
occasionally  seen  the  glory  of  its  presence 
amongst  the  early  exponents  of  Christianity.  Here 
we  would  like  to  dwell  on  it  more  at  length  but 


[71] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


we  must  content  ourselves  with  the  production 
of  a  few  facts  that  shall  illustrate  the  rigid 
and  oftentimes  harsh  principles  governing  its 
maintenance. 

St.  Patrick,  who  usually  showed  himself  to  be 
so  kind  and  forgiving,  did  not  think  that  his 
people  should  consider  him  too  severe  when  he 
ordered  even  his  sister,  who  was  accused  of  sin, 
to  be  run  down  near  Armagh  by  his  charioteer. 

Drive  the  chariot  over  her,"  he  bade  him,  ^^and 
the  chariot  went  over  her  three  times."  Even  if 
the  historicity  of  this  tale  be  challengeable  its 
preservation  in  tradition  manifests  the  national 
scrupulousness  where  this  virtue  was  in  question. 
Who  has  not  heard  of  the  violent  methods  of  St. 
Kevin  of  Glendalough,  when  he  sought  to  guard 
himself  against  the  attentions  of  a  fair  Irish 
Cathleen?  We  have  no  reason  for  believing  that 
there  was  anything  gravely  immoral  in  her 
actions,  and  yet  the  story  did  not  hesitate  to  make 
the  saint  plunge  her  into  the  depths  of  a  lake  as 
a  punishment  for  her  folly. 

In  customs  as  well  as  in  the  lives  of  individuals 
there  is  evidence  of  the  national  delicacy  where 
this  virtue  was  concerned.  So  conservatively  did 
the  saints  treasure  woman's  reputation  that  not. 
merely  monasteries  but  certain  tracts  of  land  were 
declared  unlawful  ground  for  feminine  footsteps. 
Within  the  watery  boundaries  of  Inniscathy  no 
woman's  presence  was  tolerated.  These  prevent- 
ative measures,  of  course,  were  taken  for  the  or- 


[72] 


vnT  When  Saints  Were  Numerous 

dinary  woman  and  should  not  be  interpreted  as 
indicative  of  narrowness  of  mind  and  undue  dis- 
trust of  and  disrespect  for  women.  Where  the 
sanctity  of  men  and  women  was  of  such  a  high 
grade  as  to  render  both  parties,  humanly  speaking, 
immune  from  grave  sin,  no  wall  of  exclusiveness 
was  set  up  between  them.  On  the  contrary  com- 
munication was  encouraged,  and  some  of  the 
greatest  men  and  women  saints  frequently  met 
und  were  on  terms  of  intimate  friendship  with 
one  another.  There  were  to  be  found,  even, 
monasteries  of  such  a  unique  type  that  close  asso- 
ciation of  the  sexes  was  a  matter  of  daily  life. 
This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  inmates  of  these 
houses  were  the  first  order  of  saints  whose  holi- 
ness of  life  reached  a  high  degree  of  excellence. 
In  these  places  women  were  welcomed  and 
P  cared  for;  they  were  admitted,  so  to  speak,  to  the 
•  sanctuary ;  it  was  shared  with  them,  occupied  in 
common.  Double  or  even  mixed  monasteries,  so 
near  to  each  other  as  to  form  but  one,  brought 
the  two  sexes  together  for  mutual  edification;  men 
became  the  instructors  for  women;  women  of 
men. ' '  *  The  Irish  were,  indeed,  severely  sound 
but  not  irrational  in  their  zeal  for  the  noblest 
ornament  that  womanhood  could  possess. 

*  A.  Thebaud.  Op.  Git.  p.  104. 


[73] 


CHAPTER  VI 


Women  of  Action  from  the  Ninth  to  the  Seven- 
teenth Century 

WITH  the  passing  of  the  eighl  century  the 
women  of  Ireland  found  themselves  in 
the  presence  of  a  problem  that  was  en- 
tirely new  to  them.  Hitherto  all  their  activity 
was  confined  to  questions  merely  affecting  their 
nation  from  within  but  now  there  came  the  men- 
ace of  an  external  force  that  threatened  to  destroy 
all  the  most  treasured  possessions  of  their  land. 
The  first  grim  clouds  of  invasion  swept  down  from 
the  cold  lands  of  the  Northmen  over  Irish  skies 
glowing  with  the  warmth  of  christian  fervour, 
and  menaced  by  their  malignant  pagan  lightnings 
the  serenity  of  the  atmosphere  created  by  the 
mating  of  the  doctrines  of  Patrick  with  the  civ- 
ilisation of  the  Gael.  The  new  situation  furnished 
a  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  golden  era  of 
the  three  preceding  centuries  and  was  calculated 
to  test  the  most  sterling  fund  of  heroism  that  the 
nation  possessed.  It  was  a  challenge  not  merely 
to  the  local  sense  of  honour  of  a  clan  but  to  that 
common  feeling  of  pride  that  welded  the  whole 
congeries  of  clans  into  that  spiritual  common- 
wealth called  Ireland.    It  was  an  hour  when  the 


[74] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D, 

the  presence  of  a  strong  womanhood  could  act  as 
a  mighty  leverage  to  exalt  the  soul  of  the  people 
above  all  fear  of  final  destruction. 

That  Irish  women  did  not  live  up  to  their  past 
in  the  face  of  this  new  peril  we  have  no  ground  for 
assuming.  The  records  of  this  period  are  very  con- 
servative in  the  giving  of  information  about  men 
or  women  but  the  little  they  provide  when  prop- 
erly interpreted  shows  that  the  daughters  of  Erin 
fought  a  creditable  fight.  Very  little  beyond 
obits  are  mentioned  in  the  annals  in  the  case 
of  individuals  in  the  early  and  mediaeval  centur- 
ies and  as  we  know  from  other  sources  that  some 
of  these  who  are  dismissed  thus  hastily  were  peo- 
ple of  distinction  it  seems  only  reasonable  to  as- 
sert that  others  for  whose  fame  we  have  not  such 
corroborative  evidence  were  in  all  likelihood  im- 
portant personalities.  In  a  word  the  mere  fact  of 
mention  in  the  annals  seems  the  hall-mark  of 
distinction  for  those  whose  memory  is  thus  pre- 
served. We  hope  that  the  reader  will  keep  this 
in  mind  as  an  aid  towards  a  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  the  position  of  woman  in  the  centuries 
that  antedate  the  Tudor  era. 

In  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  several  wom- 
en of  the  ninth  century  are  recalled  as  possessing 
a  prominence  equal  to  that  of  most  of  their  broth- 
ers of  distinction  if  the  number  of  words  that  com- . 
memorate  them  has  any  worth  as  a  measure  of 
greatness.  But  besides  these  we  have  a  few  in- 
stances where  more  lengthy  accounts  are  given 

[75] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


of  the  activities  of  women.  In  the  reign  of 
Donmacad,  Ard-Ri,  a  dispute  for  the  sovereignty 
of  Munster  arose  between  Cumeide  and  Ceallachan. 
Things  were  looking  stormy  and  a  bloody  clash 
seemed  to  be  impending  when  the  wisdom  of  a 
woman  in  council  won  the  day.  Keating  tells  us 
that  the  mother  of  Ceallachan  travelled  from 
Cashel  to  where  the  contestants  met  and  besought 
them  '*to  remember  the  agreement  come  between 
Fiachaidh  Muilleachan  and  Cormac  Cas  that  the 
descendants  of  both  should  alternatively  inherit 
Munseer  ....  And  as  a  result  of  the  woman's 
discourse  Cumeide  left  the  sovereignty  of  Munster 
to  Ceallachan.''*  The  fact  that  the  person  for 
whom  this  noble  lady  pleaded  was  her  son  in 
favour  of  whom  she  might  have  been  prejudiced 
did  not  tell  against  her  for  her  argument  was 
founded  on  justice  which  the  glamour  of  a  throne 
could  not  force  her  opponent  to  resist. 

Into  the  life  of  the  same  Ceallachan  there  en- 
tered the  heroism  of  another  woman.  This  time 
his  enemy  was  Sitric,  a  Danish  prince,  who  plotted 
to  effect  by  treachery  the  death  of  the  Munster 
king.  Mor,  the  Irish  wife  of  the  foreigner,  hear- 
ing of  the  scheme  saved  the  life  of  the  intended 
victim  by  a  timely  warning.  She  was  wedded  to 
her  land  and  kin  before  all  things  and  she  faced 
the  wrath  of  an  angry  husband  rather  than  see 
them  injured.  Like  her  Muirgel,  in  A.  D.  882, 
won  fame  in  dealing  with  another  of  the  leaders 

*  Irish  Texts  Society.  Vol.  9.  p.  223. 

[76] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.D. 


of  the  Northmen.  This  latter  lady,  the  daring 
daughter  of  royal  Maelseachlainn,  slew  a  chieftain 
of  the  foreigners  that  her  country  might  get  rid 
of  a  powerful  and  most  troublesome  foe. 

In  this  same  period  there  is  evidence  of  an- 
other kind  that  demonstrates  the  loyalty  of  woman 
to  kith  and  kin  and  country.  Women  were  made 
the  special  target  of  the  wrath  of  the  foreigners 
in  such  a  general  way  as  to  show  that  they  were 
regarded  as  a  valuable  national  asset.  True,  in- 
deed, libertinism  to  a  large  extent  inspired  this 
policy  of  the  pagans  but  their  wholesale  deporta- 
tion of  women  to  foreign  parts  is  strongly  sugges-  - 
tive  of  the  Cromwellian  anti-racial  movement  that; 
centuries  afterwards  sent  many  a  cargo  of  fem-j 
inine  victims  to  the  Barbadoes.  Of  the  Danes  itfi 
is  stated  in  the  Annals  of  Clonmacnoise  that  in  the 
year  830  ' '  as  many  women  as  they  could  lay  hands 
on,  noble  or  ignoble,  young  or  old,  married  or  un- 
married, whatsoever  birth  or  age  they  were  of, 
were  by  them  abused  most  beastily  and  filthily, 
and  such  of  them  as  they  liked  best,  were  by  them 
sent  over  seas  into  their  own  country  there  to  be 
kept  by  them  to  use  their  unlawful  luste.^'*  An- 
other ancient  writer  with  a  weeping  pen  tells  of 
the  harassed  virtue  and  beauty  of  those  tur- 
bulent days.  ^^Many  were  the  blooming,  lively 
women;  and  the  modest,  mild,  comely  maidens 
....  whom  they  carried  off  into  oppression  and 
bondage  over  the  broad,  green  sea.    Many  and 

*  Dublin.  1896.  ed.  Rev.  D.  Murphy  SJ. 

[77] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


frequent  were  the  bright  and  brilliant  eyes  that 
were  suffused  mth  tears  at  the  separation  of  ...  . 
daughter  from  mother. ' ' 

During  the  next  century  the  goading  of  the 
Northmen  became  more  venomous  and  serious  and 
yet  their  augumented  tortures  elicited  only  a  grow- 
ing resistance  from  the  nation  and  an  increase  in 
number  of  the  women  who  merited  special  atten- 
tion from  the  chronicler  for  pronounced  value  to 
the  commonwealth.  For  this  they  continued  to 
suffer  from  the  invader.  Their  hostile  incursions 
were  frequently  unannounced  and  many  a  time 
no  sex  was  spared  by  the  ruthless  sword  of  the 
pirates  of  the  North. 

There  was  one,  however,  who  did  not  suffer 
for  she  was  conspicuous  rather  for  malicious 
greatness  than  studied  patriotism.    Yet  we  must 
not  pass  her  over  for  she  displayed  an  ability 
in  intrigue  and  rank-seeking  that  was  out  of  the 
ordinary  even  though  it  wore  the  apparel  of  evil. 
Her  soaring  ambition  led  her  into  three  provinces 
where  in  succession  she  pledged  herself  in  wed- 
lock to  Olaf  Cuaran  of  Dublin,  Malachy  of  Tara 
and  Brian  the  Great  of  Kinkora.   It  was  with  the 
last  of  these  monarchs  that  she  manifested  the 
I    greatness  of  her  vindictiveness.    Gormlai,  for 
!l    this  was  her  name,  was  a  fit  companion  in  sheer 
\   intellectuality  for  the  able  lord  of  the  Dalcassians 
\  but  her  duty  as  a  wife  was  lost  in  her  overweening 
\  pride.    Ill-i3rooking  the  vision  of  her  family  in 

*  Wars  of  the  Gael  and  Gall.  ed.  J.  H.  Todd.  London.  1867.  p.  43. 

[78] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


subjection  even  to  her  husband  she  inserted  the 
poison  of  jealousy  in  the  heart  of  her  brother  and 
made  him  the  defiant  enemy  of  Brian.  Impelled 
still  further  along  her  serpentine  ways  and  heed- 
less of  plighted  troth  and  her  marriage  vow  she 
offered  her  hand  in  wedlock  to  Sigurd  in  return 
for  his  aid  against  the  grandson  of  Malachy  whom 
her  wounded  pride  wished  to  vanquish.  Wider 
and  wider  she  spread  her  tentacles  of  secret 
scheming  until  she  held  within  them  the  forces 
that  paved  the  way  for  the  Battle  of  Clontarf. 
That  conflict  drove  the  Dane  from  Ireland  but  its 
benefit  was  very  dubious  for  on  its  fatal  field  fell 
the  most  statesmanlike  and  constructive  mon- 
arch that  the  country  knew  for  centuries.  From 
it  there  resulted  disputed  successions  to  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  High  King  which  might  have  been 
avoided  had  Brian  lived.  He  would  have  be- 
queathed to  his  family  a  leadership  that  foes 
might  fear  to  dispute  and  to  his  country  a  sense 
of  national  government  and  organic  solidarity 
which  might  have  expelled  the  invading  legions  of 
the  second  Henry  of  England. 

As  the  trouble-haunted  years  of  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries  wing  their  feverish  flight 
into  the  silence  of  the  past  the  little  brightness 
that  is  hidden  in  them  is  scarcely  noticeable.  It 
is  a  fitful,  twinkling  light  in  a  wilderness  of  dark- 
ness and  chaotic  waters.  Yet  we  have  no  doubt 
that  the  tradition  of  a  noble  womanhood  still  en- 
dured and  helped  to  keep  within  the  nation  that 


[79] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


latent  strength  which  manifested  itself  in  days 
of  resurgence.  Such  an  item  as  that  which  rec- 
ords the  death  of  Bevinn  in  1134,  who  was  a  fe- 
male erenach  of  Derry  Columbkille,  serves  to 
strengthen  that  conviction.  The  office  which  the 
lady  held  entailed  responsibility  for  the  manage- 
ment of  church  temporalities.  In  the  case  of 
Derry  it  must  have  been  especially  onerous  for 
this  was  one  of  the  most  important  ecclesiastical 
establishments  in  the  country.  Yet  in  the  midst 
of  political  distraction  sufficient  faith  in  woman 
,  still  resided  amongst  the  people  to  entrust  to  one 
of  her  sex  the  civil  administration  of  Derry 's 
church  property.  Another  significant  proof  of 
the  prevailing  respect  of  the  Ireland  of  this  time 
for  woman's  ability  came  from  the  pen  of  GioUa 
Modhuda  O'Cassidy,  Abbott  of  Ardbraccan  in 
County  Meath  who  died  about  1143.  This  man 
who  combined  considerable  learning  with  poetic 
powers  wrote  a  History  of  Women  from  the  earl- 
iest times  to  his  own  day.  He  who  had  written  long 
historical  poems  on  the  monarchs  of  Ireland  be- 
lieved the  wives  and  mothers  of  these  rulers  as 
worthy  of  a  scholar's  attention  as  the  sovereigns 
themselves.  His  action  must  have  been  inspired 
by  the  presence  of  a  capable  womanhood  in  his 
own  time. 

Sweeping  onward  we  find  the  land  imperilled 
by  a  new  invader.  This  time  the  stranger  gave 
every  sign  of  intending  to  make  himself  a  per- 
manent dwelling  place  within  the  island  to  which 

[80] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


he  had  been  introduced.  The  Anglo-Norman  had 
arrived  and  four  decades  had  not  elapsed  ere  he 
began  a  systematic  framing  of  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment through  which  to  secure  his  new  posses- 
sions. Unlike  the  Dane  the  Anglo-Norman  with 
stolid  deliberations  and  methodic  action  settled 
down  almost  from  the  beginning  in  his  acquired 
territory  as  if  it  had  been  the  cradle  of  his  race 
and  was  intended  by  nature  to  be  his  for  all  time. 
This  was  something  that  the  Gael  had  never  be- 
fore encountered  and  its  very  novelty  was  a  fresh 
tax  upon  his  determination  to  defend  his  ancient 
heritage. 

Nothing  daunted,  the  daughters  of  Ireland  re- 
mained faithful  and  did  their  part  where  the  fight 
was  sternest.  When  they  could,  they  employed 
all  the  weapons  they  had  in  their  armoury  of  fas- 
cinations to  make  the  trans-channel  ^dsitor  a  sym- 
pathetic member  of  their  national  family  and 
when  success  was  not  assured  by  such  strategy 
they  did  a  lion's  share  in  the  work  of  keeping 
those  beyond  the  pale  of  conversion  from  enjoying 
the  confidence  of  their  people.  When  for  instance 
the  daughter  of  Hugh  O'Connor,  King  of  Con- 
naught,  in  1226,  was  forcibly  detained  in  Dublin  by 
the  English,  we  can  feel  sure  that  they  were  not  so 
attached  to  her  presence  on  account  of  her  Anglo- 
phile tendencies.  We  have  to  travel  but  the  space 
of  another  decade  to  find  a  Mac  Maurice  manifest- 
ing his  interest  in  a  similar  manner  in  Irish  women. 
Occupying  the  chief  executive  position  within  the 

[8i] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

territory  where  Saxon  writs  ran,  he  thought  it  a 
necessary  imperialist  move  to  keep  many  respect- 
able women  in  bondage  where  their  protection  was 
very  questionable  and  their  nationalist  efforts  were 
eliminated. 

Despite  officialdom,  however,  the  sunbeams  of 
Irish  life  slowly  but  surely  bridged  the  rampart  of 
darkness  that  prevented  the  amalgamation  of  the 
races  and  the  ^ ^ degeneracy "  of  the  superior" 
Saxon  was  certainly  becoming  an  unpleasant  real- 
ity. To  check  this  mingling  of  polluted''  Irish 
waters  with  the  ^4imped"  stream  of  the  invading 
flood  new  methods  were  strictly  urgent.  The  first 
Edward  was  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  such 
tactics  and  in  1295  statutory  bayonets  were  lev- 
elled at  the  breasts  of  any  who  dared  to  retain 
or  acquire  anything  that  suggested  Gaelic  civili- 
zation. Yet  twelve  months  had  scarcely  vanished 
before  the  royal  ears  could  hear  the  revolting- 
news  that  even  an  Irish  maiden  had  no  respect  for 
England's  decrees.  The  deathless  song  of  the 
Coolin  which  is  supposed  to  date  from  1296  is  a 
monument  in  music  commemorating  the  defiance 
hurled  at  these  statutes  by  a  woman.  It  was  a 
high  crime  and  misdemeanour  for  an  Irishman  to 
wear  long  locks.  To  one  who  fell  under  this  ban 
the  maid  in  question  was  about  to  offer  her  heart 
and  hand  when  with  doubtful  love  he  consented 
for  her  sake  to  save  himself  from  Saxon  vengeance 
by  submitting  his  locks  to  the  imperialist  scissors. 
Such  a  selfish  surrender  to  aggression  she  would 


[82] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 

not  for  a  moment  entertain  and  proudly  told  Mm 
she  would  have  him  with  his  flowing  hair  and  its 
attendant  perils,  but  never  with  a  cropped  head 
and  Anglicised  security. 

The  years  that  ensued  saw  Edward  and  his 
statutes  little  more  than  a  memory  whilst  their 
would-be  prey  even  of  the  weaker  sex  still  waved 
the  banner  of  indignant  repudiation  of  things  op- 
pressive. English  dominion  was  now  rushing  to- 
wards the  precipice  which  lay  between  it  and  de- 
struction and  instead  of  turning  back  and  becom- 
ing aggressive  was  striving  frantically  to  check 
the  speed  of  its  retreat.  To  add  to  its  weakness 
there  came  a  king,  Edward  III,  who  thought 
France  a  more  satisfactory  field  for  the  glutting 
of  his  martial  vanity  than  Ireland  and  left  his 
subordinates  in  the  sister  isle  to  maintain  their 
hold  there  with  little  encouragement  from  his 
royal  self.  In  the  midst  of  these  happenings  Irish 
women  who  forced  the  reticent  pen  of  the  chron- 
iclers into  eulogy  became  more  and  more  numer- 
ous. In  1316,  Dervorgill,  the  wife  of  Hugh 
0  'Donnell,  procured  for  herself  a  force  of  gallow- 
glasses  and  she  did  not  maintain  them  for  fancy 
manoeuvres  or  to  help  the  Viceroy.  We  hear  of 
a  Barrel  0 'Donnell  in  1343,  of  whom  it  was  said 
that  ^Hhere  never  was  a  woman  of  the  tribe  who 
surpassed  her  in  goodness"  and  we  feel  sure  that 
her  primacy  of  merit  amongst  the  daughters  of 
Tirconnell  was  not  obtained  without  very  sub- 
stantial service  to  her  clansmen.  Within  ten  more 


[8.3] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

years  our  attention  is  focussed  on  another  woman 
of  this  tribal  stock  named  Gormlai  than  whom 
there  *^was  not  in  her  time  a  woman  of  greater 
fame  or  renown.'' 

Not  long  after  this  the  English  government  de- 
termined to  reapply  the  methods  of  Edward  I  for 
the  purpose  of  reclaiming  the  Irish  from  their 
' '  savage ' '  ways.  In  1367  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny 
reaffirmed  the  policy  of  proclaiming  all  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Gael  illegal.  However  there 
were  ladies  who  seemed  to  care  naught  for  its 
sanctions,  for  twenty  years  later  there  is  record 
of  a  daughter  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  '^a  lady  that  far 
surpassed  all  the  ladyes  of  Clanna  Neales,  in  all 
good  parts  requisite  in  a  noble  matron. ' '  Knowing 
what  the  past  history  of  that  famous  clan  was  we 
can  easily  imagine  that  this  noble  dame  must  have 
grievously  sinned  against  the  decrees  that  eman- 
ated from  the  Marble  City.  Away  in  the  west,  a 
scion  of  the  royal  house  of  O'Connor,  seemed 
equally  heedless  of  the  crusade  preached  from 
Kilkenny.  Her  name  was  Cobhlai  Mor  and  by 
1395  she  had  established  a  national  reputation  for 
herself  as  a  hostess  and  her  mode  of  entertaining 
was  not  inspired  by  any  Saxon  code  of  etiquette. 

Further  and  further  away  ebbed  the  tide  of 
English  civilisation  as  the  fourteenth  century 
fared  rapidly  towards  approaching  dissolution. 
Then  suddenly  Richard  II  burst  in  upon  the  re- 
treating waters  endeavouring  by  a  display,  and 
nothing  more,  of  sheer  majesty  and  power  to  stem 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 

their  progress.  Content  with  this  he  hastily  re- 
turned to  England  only  to  hear  that  the  waters 
continued  to  rise  and  threatened  to  engulf  be- 
neath them  every  remnant  of  foreign  dominion. 

To  this  new  avalanche  the  feminine  element 
added  impetus  and  weight.  Women  continued  to 
appear  as  good  practical  housewives  who  re- 
garded it  as  their  prime  duty  to  preserve  that  fam- 
ily sobriety  and  sense  of  hospitality  which  should 
keep  the  source  of  Irish  energy  and  anti-Saxon 
aggressiveness  strong  and  wholesome.  There  went 
to  her  everlasting  reward  in  1421  a  great  matron 
of  Connaught,  Mor,  wife  of  Walter  Burke,  the 
^^most  distinguished  woman  in  her  time  in  Leath 
Mogha,  for  knowledge,  hospitality,  good  sense 
and  piety."  In  the  same  provinice  it  is  recorded 
there  lived  in  the  next  generation  a  certain  Celia 
Burke  who  was  the  wife  of  another  of  the  Gaeli- 
cised  strangers  and  ^^was  the  most  preeminent  of 
the  women  of  Connaught."  This  preeminence  in 
the  west  at  this  time  was  an  impossibility  unh^ss 
it  had  been  based  on  hostility  to  England.  A  con- 
temporary of  these  Connaught  dames  was  Cath- 
leen,  the  ^^old  countess  of  Desmond"  who  was 
born  in  1464  and  continued  to  live  until  the  reign 
of  James  I.  Her  longevity  was  most  remarkable 
but  her  ability  to  sustain  and  surmount  suffering 
was  equally  striking.  She  traversed  faitlifully 
all  the  valleys  of  affliction  through  which  her  fam- 
ily passed  and  fought  for  it  with  unsubdued 
spirit.   When  the  first  Stuart  reached  the  throne 

[35] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


she,  who  had  known  days  of  abundance,  was  re- 
duced to  utter  destitution.  But  even  then  within 
a  stooped  and  aged  frame  she  had  a  soul  of 
adamant.  She  never  lost  hope,  and  carrying  her 
weak  daughter  on  her  back,  she  made  her  final 
journey  to  the  court  of  James  in  London  where 
she  wrenched  justice  from  the  monarch  in  person. 
Whilst  her  ultimate  surrender  as  a  suppliant  be- 
fore English  sovereignty  was  regrettable  it  was 
somewhat  palliated  by  the  extremity  of  her  age 
and  her  loyalty  to  a  family  that  had  now  become 
part  and  parcel  of  Gaeldom. 

With  the  destruction  of  feudal  aristocratic  pow- 
er through  the  wars  of  the  Roses  there  leaped 
into  being  the  dynasty  of  the  Tudors.  The  new 
house  was  destined  to  have  vigorous  and  am- 
bitious monarchs  who  were  well  able  to  manipu- 
late the  vast  strength  which  was  snatched  from 
the  prostrate  barons.  That  power  was  soon  di- 
rected towards  the  reconquest  of  the  Irish  lands 
that  had  been  forfeited  through  domestic  strife 
in  England.  There  was  instituted  a  campaign  of 
aggressiveness  against  everything  Irish  that 
brought  untold  misery  to  the  people  and  cul- 
minated in  the  utter  undoing  of  their  polity 
and  laws. 

To  the  elimination  of  the  native  government, 
however,  the  Saxon  victory  was  confined.  The 
soul  of  the  land  and  that  vast  heritage  of  tradi- 
tion that  went  to  sustain  it  remained  substantially 
unchanged.  And  it  is  our  high  pleasure  to  be  able 


[86] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A,  D. 


to  state  that  during  this  period  as  always,  woman- 
hood did  its  part  in  sustaining  the  vital  breath 
within  the  nation.  The  increased  rigour  of  the 
foreign  government  and  the  augmented  weight 
of  sorrow  which  it  piled  upon  the  Gael  did  not 
make  the  tender  soul  of  its  womanhood  hesitate 
to  do  its  duty.  On  the  contrary,  the  added  bitter- 
ness of  the  new  calvary  only  found  an  ever-grow- 
ing number  of  voluntary  victims  to  court  its  gall 
and  vinegar.  Whilst  those  amongst  them  who 
had  not  come  into  contact  with  the  foreigners' 
wild  ways  did  their  part  as  of  yore  in  sustaining 
by  championship  of  ancient  manner  and  custom 
that  spirit  bond  of  nationhood  that  no  tyrant 
steel  could  sunder. 

Beginning  with  the  bleak  and  iron-ribbed  prin- 
cipality of  the  0 'Sullivan  in  the  southwest  we 
find  towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century 
its  chieftains  still  deeming  their  ladies'  civic  use- 
fulness worthy  of  considerable  remuneration.  All 
the  standing  rent  due  to  the  Lord  of  Beare  from 
his  crag  and  rock  continued  to  be  given  to  his 
wife  for  her  idle  expenses.  A  proof  of  the  merit 
that  won  this  hereditary  recompense  may  be  wit- 
nessed in  the  heroism  of  the  daughters  of  Beare, 
humble  as  well  as  great,  after  the  disasters  of  a 
hundred  years  had  brought  red  ruin  to  their  prin- 
cipality. When  after  desperate  resistance  the 
proud  keep  of  Dunboy  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
English  the  staunchness  of  the  women  defenders 
brought  them  the  stern  revenge  of  the  enemy's 


[87] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


sword.  ^^Some  ran  their  swords  up  to  the  hilt 
through  the  babe  and  mother  who  was  carrying  it 
on  her  breast,"  says  a  most  reliable  writer,  de- 
scribing the  activities  of  the  foe  after  the  fall  of 
the  castle.  *  The  hangman's  rope,  too,  did  its 
deadly  work  upon  several  women  with  Carew  su- 
perintending operations.  Those  who  escaped  the 
steel  and  the  strangling  noose  threw  in  their  lot 
with  the  brave  0  'Sullivan  in  his  heroic  retreat  to- 
\\rards  the  North.  In  this  the  trials  were  so  exact- 
ing upon  the  courage  and  physique  of  the  sturdy 
band  of  men  that  some  of  their  bravest  were  lost 
through  lack  of  staying  power.  Yet  hear  what 
O  'Sullivan  says  of  the  manner  in  which  their  sis- 
ters on  the  march  bore  themselves.  ^^I  am  aston- 
ished," he  says,  ^^that  ....  women  of  delicate 
sex,  were  able  to  go  through  their  toils,  which 
youths  in  the  flower  of  age  and  height  of  their 
strength  were  unable  to  endure. ' '  * 

Moving  northward  into  deep-vallied  Munster 
we  encounter  many  a  true  sister  of  the  women  of 
Beare.  In  1524  all  Thomond  knew  of  a  Mor 
0  'Brien  who  did  her  best  to  keep  a  buoyant  and 
robust  spirit  within  the  warlike  and  the  cultured 
in  ' '  an  open  house  of  hospitality. ' '  1548  the  wife 
of  O  'Dwyer  was  such  an  influence  within  her  hus- 
band's  territory  that  when  it  sent  a  payment  of 
tribute  to  the  White  Knight  her  consent  was  vital 
to  the  transaction.    Spenser  in  Pacata  Hibernia 

*  Ireland  under  Elizabeth.  O'Sullivan  Beare.  Dub.  1903.  p  156. 

*  Op.  Cit.  p.  173. 


[88] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


dwells  regretfully  on  the  ^^treacherous''  action 
of  the  Lady  of  0  'Brien,  Lord  of  Lixnaw,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  death  of  a  certain  Maurice  Stack. 
That  there  was  perhaps  some  element  of  good,  at 
least  for  the  Irish,  in  a  deed  where  the  gentle  poet 
saw  nothing  but  rampant  foulness  does  not  seem 
unlikely  when  we  hear  that  the  victim  was  a 
worthy  subject  (more  worthy  than  whom  there 
was  no  one  of  Ireland  birth  of  his  quality.) " 

Crossing  into  the  broad  domains  of  the  lord  of 
Desmond  there  is  abundance  of  feminine  ability 
and  patriotism  to  greet  us.  This  is  especially  ap- 
parent in  the  history  of  the  Desmond  family  itself. 
As  soon  as  the  feudal  aristocracy  had  been  crushed 
in  England  the  nobles  in  Ireland  were  marked 
out  for  destruction.  But  in  the  latter  country  the 
great  lords  had  become  far  more  like  independent 
Gaelic  princes  than  vassals  of  any  king  and  hence 
their  subjugation  was  not  only  a  crown  but  a 
national  policy  of  the  Tudors.  Desmond  was  one 
of  the  greatest  of  the  ^  ^  degenerate "  nobles  and 
his  defeat  was  a  long  and  tedious  business.  Be- 
fore that  was  accomplished  many  noble  ladies 
showed  as  much  prowess  in  the  struggle  as  their 
lords. 

The  staunchest  and  most  distinguished  of  the 
galaxy  of  fighting  dames  was  she  who  was  mated 
in  suffering  glory  with  the  last  Earl  of  that 
Munster  house.  She  stood  by  him  unto  the  last 
even  when  the  pardon  and  protection  of  the 
British  Crown  was  proffered  her  and  when  in  the 

[89] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


words  of  Holinslied  whoever  did  travel  from  one 
end  of  Munster  to  the  other,  Avonld  not  meet  any 
man,  woman  or  child,  saving  in  towns  or  cities; 
and  would  not  see  any  beast."  It  was  this  sterling 
loyalty  to  her  land  and  Imsband  that  wrung  from 
Malbie  the  bitter  statement  that  she  was  ^^an  in- 
famous woman"  and  ^Hlie  greatest  worker  of 
these  wicked  rebellions  on  the  Pope's  behalf" 
and  hence  was  beyond  the  pale  of  amnesty.  When, 
at  last,  the  Desmond's  sun  of  hope  had  set  forever 
his  Countess  braved  in  futile  effort  the  wrath  of 
Sir  Warham  of  St.  Leger  to  get  from  him  a  pardon 
for  her  heroic  lord.  And  that  fervent  loyalty  that 
was  hers  pervaded  the  hearts  of  even  the  lowliest 
of  her  servants.  We  cannot  forget  Mary  Slieehy, 
her  devoted  maid,  who  faced  the  perils  of  the 
lonely  road  in  those  lawless  days  for  her  mistress ' 
sake  only  to  find  herself  at  the  end  of  her  journey 
in  the  prison  of  the  Queen's  President  of  Munster. 

Close  by  Desmond  was  the  chieftaincy  of  the 
Mac  Carthy  of  Muskerry.  Here  we  are  reminded 
of  the  self-sacrificing  Eleanor  Mac  Carthy  who  at 
one  time  in  its  history  saved  the  leading  liouse  of 
the  Kildare  Geraldine  from  extinction.  After  the 
abortive  revolt  of  Silken  Thomas  and  Henry  VTII 
had  produced  the  grim  exhibition  of  six  Geraldines 
dangling  at  the  end  of  a  rope  on  Tyburn  Hill  only 
one  Fitzgerald  of  that  line  escaped  the  royal 
clutches.  This  was  Gerald  Fitzgerald,  the  heir  to 
the  house  of  Kildare,  who  succeeded  in  eluding 
the  royal  endeavour  to  entrap  him  through  the  ef- 

[90] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


forts  of  the  noble  Eleanor.  Taking  liim  under  her 
protection,  for  he  was  then  but  a  boy  of  twelve, 
she  kept  him  in  Muskerry  whilst  the  arm  of  a 
Mac  Carthy  could  shield  him.  When  his  haven  of 
safety  in  Muskerry  was  menaced  she  brought  her 
protegee  through  many  perils  to  the  land  of 
O'Donnell  in  the  North.  Here  she  married  the 
chieftain  of  Tyrconnell  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
making  the  position  of  the  young  Geraldine  all  the 
more  secure.  But  her  spouse  was  faithless  and 
realising  his  treacherous  designs  upon  the  boy  she 
abandoned  him  and  his  unworthy  scheming. 
Knowing  now  that  nowhere  on  Irish  soil  could 
young  Gerald  find  safety  she  effected  his  escape 
to  the  Eternal  City  where  papal  friendship 
shielded  him. 

Leaving  the  Geraldine  we  transfer  our  attention 
to  the  Ormond  family.  Here  woman  appears  as  a 
doer  of  great  deeds  and  a  giver  of  wise  counsel. 
The  most  illustrious  woman  in  the  history  of  that 
Earldom  was  the  Countess  Margaret.  In  her  the 
eighth  Earl  of  Desmond  found  a  life  companion 
who  shouldered  the  greater  part  of  his  burdens  of 
state  and  disposed  of  them  in  a  masterly  fashion. 
Her  husband  had  many  enemies  and  the  aid  of  her 
vigorous  and  constructive  mind  must  have  been  a 
tower  of  support  for  him  when  he  sought  in  spite 
of  external  aggression  to  maintain  a  strong  and 
orderly  rule  at  home.  That  this  was  at  his  disposal 
we  know  from  the  authority  of  Campion,  the 
Jesuit,  who  says  that  she  ^^was  a  rare  and  noble 


[91] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


woman  and  able  for  wisdom  to  rule  a  realm. ' '  To 
this  we  can  add  the  tribute  of  another  old  writer 
who  says  that  her  husband  ^^bare  out  his  honours 
and  the  charge  of  his  government  very  worthily, 
through  the  singular  wisdom  of  his  Countess,  a 
lady  of  such  port  that  all  estates  in  the  realms 
crouched  unto  her,  so  politique  that  nothing  was 
thought  substantially  debated  without  her  ad- 
vice. ' '  ^  Her  mental  astuteness  she  was  able  to 
complement  by  the  weapon  of  force.  She  was 
fashioned  in  such  a  rugged  mould  that  in  feats  of 
physical  prowess  she  could  put  the  ruler  of 
Ormond  to  shame  and  could  levy  blackmail  on 
her  neighbours  by  an  armed  band  that  she  main- 
tained for  her  personal  aims. 

Yet  in  the  avocations  that  tell  of  a  finer  fibre 
in  her  character  she  was  not  deficient.  Moved  by 
a  feeling  of  nationalism  as  well  as  appreciation  of 
the  aesthetic  she  found  pleasure  in  patronising 
the  arts.  At  her  invitation  artificers  crossed  the 
seas  from  Flanders  to  impart  to  her  people  the 
mysteries  of  the  tapestry-making  in  which  they 
excelled.  Her  admiration  for  letters  led  her  to 
erect  a  school  where  those  who  hungered  for  the 
food  of  the  mind  got  what  their  souls  desired.  In 
brief,  the  life-task  which  she  accomplished  was  so 
remarkable  that  her  memory  is  still  a  vivid  and 
prized  possession  of  the  inhabitants  of  Kilkenny 
City  whilst  that  of  her  husband  is  dimmed  by  the 
mist-inducing  lapse  of  centuries. 


*  Romance  of  Irish  Heroines.  McCraith.  Quot.  p,  41. 

[92] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


In  the  neighbourhood  of  Ormond  there  are  other 
instances  of  feminine  worth  that  merit  production. 
In  1535  there  is  record  of  a  Janet  Eustace  who  was 
a  persona  ingrata  in  the  eyes  of  Dublin  Castle.  The 
Saxon  gave  her  the  hospitality  of  a  prison  for  ' 'be- 
ing the  great  causer  of  the  insurrection  of  Thomas 
Fitzgerald  and  of  her  son  James  Delahide." 
Nearly  half  a  century  later  an  official  was  deeply 
angered  by  the  sister  of  Simon  MacDavid  and  his 
anger  was  due  to  loyal  official  reasons.  When  he 
had  arrested  her  his  words  were:  ^'ii  she  do  not 
stand  by  me  in  steede  I  mean  to  execute  her. ' '  A 
little  later  the  wife  of  Sir  Barnaby  Fitzpatrick, 
Baron  of  Upper  Ossory,  was  evidently  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  sentiments  of  an  anti-English  hus- 
band and  for  that  reason  was  forced  to  change 
with  his  her  residence  for  the  most  austere  apart- 
ments of  a  Dublin  prison,  when  the  Elisabethan 
kidnappers  secured  for  their  mistress  in  the  castle 
prison  of  the  Metropolis  the  youthful  Hugh 
Roe  O'Donnell  the  strategy  of  a  woman  con- 
tributed to  his  rescue.  This  was  Rosa  0 'Toole 
who  cooperated  with  her  brother  Felim  and  her 
husband,  Fiach  0 'Byrne,  in  the  liberation  of  the 
young  chieftain  of  Tyrconnell.  The  work  she  par- 
ticipated in,  cost  England  many  a  man  and  dollar 
and  gave  Ireland  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  pic- 
turesque of  its  leaders. 

How  bitterly  the  minions  of  England  regarded 
these  activities  of  the  womenfolk  in  this  part  of 
Ireland  may  be  estimated  by  their  savage  treat- 


[93] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


ment  of  many  of  their  sex.  The  sword  and  stran- 
gling rope  were  used  unsparingly  to  crush  this  very 
unbecoming  spirit  in  the  souls  of  Irish  ladies.  It 
was  regarded  as  an  effective  way  of  procuring  the 
extermination  of  the  race  as  well  as  of  telling 
women  that  their  traitorous  guilt  was  equal  to 
that  of  men.  Coote,  a  true  son  of  the  infamous 
President  of  Connaught,  amused  himself  at  Black- 
hall,  Kildare,  according  to  the  author  of  Cam- 
brensis  Eversus,  by  massacring  women  and  trans- 
fixing their  infant  children  on  their  breasts.  He 
liked  to  dispatch  the  child  with  the  mother  for  it 
was  one  of  his  principles  of  political  philosophy 
that  ^^a  bad  crow  from  a  bad  egg"  was  an  in- 
dubitable law  of  nature.  On  one  occasion  lie 
committed  to  the  rope  a  noble  lady  who  was  his 
host  and  taking  the  unborn  babe  from  her  womb 
strangled  it  by  the  hair  of  the  martyred  mother. 
He  had  an  eminent  rival  in  butchery  in  Cosby, 
governor  of  Leix,  who  resorted  to  similar  methods 
for  the  civilisation  of  the  wild  Irish. 

As  we  direct  our  vision  from  the  Southwest 
to  the  land  of  Owen  and  Connell  in  the  North 
where  the  Gael  by  the  shield  of  his  might  saved 
the  sanctuary  of  his  ancient  heritage  until  tlie 
bitter  end  from  the  sacrilegious  legions  of 
Elisabeth,  we  cannot  but  expect  to  find  some 
staunch  defenders  of  his  strongest  fortress 
amongst  the  ranks  of  women.  Knowing  how  thor- 
oughly the  government  at  London  set  itself  to  in- 
ject an  English  mind  into  tlie  great  Hugh  of 


[94] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


Tyrone  and  how  for  a  time  it  seemed  to  have  par- 
tially succeeded  we  cannot  but  feel  that  if  his  wife 
was  influential  in  his  home  she  must  have  con- 
tributed to  the  strength  of  his  grim  resolve  when 
he  challenged  to  the  combat  all  the  forces  of 
England.  But  we  know  from  the  confession  of  an 
English  official  that  his  wife  was  Mary  O'Neill 
^^the  Lady  ...  by  whom  he  is  most  ruled"  and  are 
not  therefore  basing  our  former  conclusions  on 
premises  of  imaginary  origin.  Speaking  of  the 
O'Neills  reminds  us  of  another  lady,  the  wife  of 
Nelan  0  'Neill,  who  was  one  of  the  official  plenipo- 
tentiaries engaged  to  settle  the  disputes  between 
her  husband  and  the  O'Neill.  Then  there  was  the 
lady  of  the  famous  Thurlugh  Lynagh  O'Neill  who 
was  a  very  worthy  partner  of  the  stout  old  chief- 
tain. She  stood  staunchly  by  the  side  of  her  war- 
harassed  husband  where  her  ability  won  for  her 
special  attention  from  English  officialdom.  Malby, 
from  the  security  of  the  land  he  had  conquered,  is- 
sued an  ominous  warning  to  his  government  lest 
her  leadership  might  make  his  subject  province  an 
unsafe  place  for  Englishmen.  His  words  were  that 
^^she  had  already  planted  a  good  foundation,  for 
she  in  Tyrone,  her  daughter  in  Tyrconnell,  and 
Sorley  Boy  in  Clandaboy,  do  carry  all  sway  in  the 
North  and  do  seek  to  creep  into  Connaught. ' '  * 
She  was  evidently  the  master  mind  not  only  within 
her  own  domains  but  of  an  alliance  that  held  in  its 
grasp  the  power  of  a  province. 


*  O'Grady.  Cat.  of  MSS  in  British  Museum,  p.  404. 

[95] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

Close  by  in  gallant  Tyrconnell  were  high-souled 
dames  who  bade  fair  to  outdo  their  sisters  of 
Tyrone  in  the  service  of  Uladh.  Queenly  and  true 
loom  forth  the  figures  of  Ineen  Duv,  the  mother 
of  Hugh  Roe  0  'Donnell,  and  her  daughter,  Nuala, 
who  aided  in  masterly  fashion  the  young  eagle  of 
the  North  to  hold  for  many  a  year  in  his  mighty 
talons  his  native  territory  against  overwhelming 
odds.  Ineen  was  Scotch  by  birth,  being  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  but  was  Gaelic  by  des- 
cent from  the  race  of  CoUa  Uais  and  was  certainly 
loyal  to  her  ancient  blood  when  she  heard  its  call 
in  the  land  of  Connell.  Her  advice  was  ever  valued 
by  her  able  son  and  many  a  time  befriended  him 
in  the  hour  of  need.  When  the  dauntless  Hugh 
left  the  warders  of  Dublin  prison  wondering  how 
the  elusive  chieftain  had  escaped  from  their  toils 
and  in  his  native  Tyrconnell  summoned  his  people 
together  for  a  conference  on  questions  vitally  af- 
fecting their  destiny,  his  mother  was  one  of  the 
dominant  counsellors  of  the  assembly.  She  clari- 
fied their  deliberations  by  the  logic  of  her  argu- 
ments and  by  pointing  out  to  them  the  severe  and 
honourable  path  of  duty  she  added  by  her  display 
of  fortitude  to  the  unyielding  attitude  of  their 
resolute  souls.  As  the  olden  writer  puts  was 
an  advantage  that  she  came  to  the  gathering,  for 
she  was  the  head  of  advice  and  counsel  of  the 
Cinel-Conail,  and  though  she  was  slow  and  very 
deliberate  and  much  praised  for  her  womanly  qual- 
ities, she  had  the  heart  of  a  hero  and  the  soul  of  a 

[96] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.  D. 


soldier,  inasmuch  as  she  exhorted  in  every  way 
each  one  that  she  was  acquainted  with,  and  her 
son  especially,  to  avenge  his  injuries  and  wrongs 
on  each  one  according  to  his  deserts. ' '  That  she 
could  face  the  sterness  of  war  as  well  as  the  en- 
tanglements of  the  council-chamber  we  know  from 
the  fact  that  she  fought  against  a  son  of  0  'Donnell 
by  a  former  wife  on  whom  in  the  interest  of  her 
own  children  she  inflicted  a  defeat.  For  such 
emergencies  as  this  she  had  always  ready  at  hand 
a  mixed  force  of  Irish  and  Scots.  And  her  daugh- 
ter, Nuala,  had  been  so  apt  a  student  in  the  school 
of  her  mother  that  all  through  life  she  never  wav- 
ered in  her  devotion  to  the  cause  that  was  so  dear 
to  the  heart  of  Ineen.  She  fought  for  it  while  a  ray 
of  hope  shone  over  it,  and  she  went  with  it 
into  exile  in  1607  when  that  sorrow-laden  ship 
brought  the  best  that  Ulster  had  to  the  land  of  the 
stranger. 

Eer  we  part  with  the  days  of  Elisabeth,  so  often 
called  spacious,  and  certainly  so  characterised  by 
vastness  in  the  ruin  which  it  measured  out  to  the 
polity  and  civilisation  of  the  Gael,  we  must  pay 
our  respects  to  the  greatest  Irish  lady  that  ever 
maintained  the  honour  of  her  race  against  the 
Lady  of  Windsor.  This  was  Grace  O'Malley, 
^  ^  Grainuaile, "  the  glory  of  Connaught  and  the 
most  abiding  and  absorbing  subject  of  song  and 
story  in  the  West  since  the  days  of  Maeve. 

When  we  think  of  Grace  we  primarily  associate 
with  her  name  things  dared  and  done  on  the  sea. 


[97] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

Belonging  to  a  clan  which  was  noted  for  centuries 
for  its  love  of  the  wild  waves,  Grace,  though  a 
woman  resolved  to  maintain  this  primal  attacli- 
ment  of  her  ancestors.  This  decision  gave  to  the 
O'Malley  tribe  as  distinguished  a  sea  leader  as  its 
history  could  unfold.  Soon  she  found  herself  at 
the  head  of  a  little  fleet  that  for  many  a  year 
under  her  captaincy  was  to  rule  the  wild  seas 
off  the  western  coast  with  as  free  a  hand  as  the 
winds  that  buffeted  them.  With  her  three  galleys 
and  two  hundred  fighting  men,  the  terror  of  her 
name  entombed  more  lightnings  for  unwelcome 
intruders  upon  the  Connaught  coast  than  did  that 
of  her  husband,  Richard-in-Iron  Burke,  for  ^^she 
was  as  much  by  sea  as  by  land  more  than  Mrs. 
Mate  with  him."  Sidney  expressed  in  1575  his 
dislike  of  her  when  he  condemned  her  to  Elisabeth 
as  ^^a  terror  to  all  merchantmen  that  sailed  the 
Atlantic."  Her  galleys  were,  no  doubt,  an  un- 
welcome vision  for  Saxon  merchantmen  out  for 
the  destruction  of  Irish  commerce  and  the  de- 
velopment of  British  imperialism  on  the  seas. 
Such  as  thwarted  that  nefarious  work  were  surely 
pirates  in  English  eyes,  though  the  orbs  that  saw 
in  them  this  malice  belonged  to  the  greatest  robber 
mariners  of  those  days.  But,  then  as  now,  what 
was  virtue  in  the  Saxon  was  crime  in  the  Gael. 
However,  Grace  could  boast  that  no  English  buc- 
caneer ever  forced  her  to  land.  Day  and  night 
she  kept  vigil  over  her  fleet,  for  tradition  has  it 
that,  even  in  her  hour  of  rest,  in  her  castle  tower 

[98] 


Women  of  Action,  900-1700  A.D. 

in  Clare  Island,  a  cable  through  a  shaft  in  the  wall 
was  always  at  hand  to  summon  her  to  her  ships. 

As  the  might  of  Elisabeth  had  little  terror  for 
her  in  her  native  West,  so  it  failed  to  awe  her  in 
the  very  palace  of  the  English  Queen.  It  is  said 
that  she  once  paid  a  visit  to  London,  where  she 
interviewed  her  Brittanic  Majesty.  On  this  oc- 
casion the  lure  of  an  English  title  was  held  out 
to  her  in  the  hope  that  she  might  forget  that  she 
was  Grace  O'Malley  and  be  henceforth  the  loyal 
and  exalted  Countess  of  somewhere.  Grace  knew 
her  own  dignity  and  duty,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
inform  her  would-be  benefactor  that  she  would 
never  be  the  titled  servant  of  another  and  that  the 
position  she  enjoyed  as  Lady  Chieftain  of  the 
O'Malleys  was  as  royal  and  orthodox  as  that  which 
Elisabeth  herself  could  claim. 

With  Grace  O'Malley  we  part  for  the  present 
with  the  heroines  of  Ireland.  They  fought  a  splen- 
did fight  and  the  sun  of  their  lives  set  in  glory 
with  the  dying  Irish  state.  If  they  did  not  succeed 
in  keeping  brehonism  in  the  land  and  the  law  of 
Saxondom  away,  they  kept  alive  what  created 
brehonism  and  Irish  civilisation,  the  dauntless  be- 
lief of  the  people  that  they  had  an  immortal  na- 
tional soul  that  sooner  or  later  would  resurrect 
their  departed  polity  over  a  land  free  to  mould 
its  future  as  it  willed. 


[99] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBliARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


CHAPTER  VII 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

WHEN  last  we  dealt  with  those  character- 
istics which  are  peculiar  to  noble  woman- 
hood we  were  pondering  on  centuries  of 
luminous  virtue  unchallenged  by  little  that  was 
hostile.  So  numerous  were  those  who  then  sought 
moral  perfection  that  they  created  not  merely 
within  their  own  individual  souls  but  also  within 
the  nation  an  atmosphere  of  religion  that  con- 
tributed all  the  advantages  of  a  nursery  to  every 
single  flowering  of  virtue.  It  is  true  that  the  com- 
mon resultant  of  a  highly  standardised  Christianity 
was  the  product  of  individual  effort,  but  this 
should  not  lead  us  to  forget  that  once  this  atmos- 
phere was  created,  it  had  powerful  reactionary  in- 
fluences upon  each  wayfarer  along  the  path  of 
the  christian  life.  The  exalted  public  sense  of  the 
beauty  of  a  strictly  christian  life  furnished  a 
strong  incentive  for  individual  hunger  for  virtue, 
whilst  it  eliminated  many  possible  factors  that 
might  militate  against  it. 

But  the  centuries  that  succeeded  the  golden  age 
of  the  saints  introduced  factors  that  were  to  with- 
draw many  of  the  elements  that  hitherto  made 
noble  living  relatively  easy.   The  clear  skies  that 

[100] 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

gave  the  warmth  of  their  sun-lit  features  to  flower- 
ing virtue  were  to  be  veiled  by  many  a  darksome 
cloud  girt  round  by  chilling  blasts.  Foreign  ag- 
gression was  to  throw  the  shadow  of  its  ugly  head 
above  the  untroubled  horizons  of  Gaelic  Chris- 
tianity, and  prove  by  its  unwholsome  presence 
whether  the  ideals  that  Patrick  brought  were 
merely  hot-house  plants  or  robust  growths  capable 
of  withstanding  adverse  atmospheric  conditions. 

That  they  withstood,  if  not  with  consummate 
success,  at  least  with  a  degree  of  victory  that  was 
unique,  the  hostile  elements  encountered,  is  a  fact 
in  the  history  of  the  nation  at  large  that  there  is 
no  denying.  And  as  women  as  an  integral  part  of 
the  nation  inevitably  participated  in  the  triumph 
of  the  whole  there  is  no  need  to  prove  their  con- 
tinuity of  noble  living  by  citing  endless  numbers. 
We  will  only  endeavor  to  unearth  the  prominent 
ones  with  a  view  to  procuring  material  for  a  con- 
clusion relative  to  type  and  the  standard  of 
wholesome  living  maintained  by  the  whole  femi- 
nine section  of  the  nation.  That  that  brand  of 
virtue  continued  to  be  of  a  very  elevated  and 
unique  type  we  believe  to  be  the  case. 

In  the  period  we  are  considering,  the  evidence 
in  general  of  the  native  records  bears  rare  and 
inappreciable  testimony  to  moral  decline  in 
womanhood  whilst  it  provides  abundant  proof 
of  sterling  loyalty  to  moral  principles.  Where 
slurs  are  cast  on  the  good  name  of  Irish  women 
the  sources  are  usually  so  prejudiced  that  they 

[lOl] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

merit  little  respect.  Besides,  the  few  black  sheep 
of  genuine  wickedness  that  are  met,  there  files  in 
far-surpassing  numbers  the  fair  ones  with  clean 
and  snow-white  fleeces.  Throughout  the  march  of 
the  centuries  good  and  true  noble  souls  greet  us 
like  so  many  stellar  glories  flashing  their  hopeful 
gleams  into  the  hearts  of  the  oppressed  and  con- 
veying to  them  the  exhortation  to  be  steadfast 
till  the  storm-swept  skies  became  fair  again. 

Starting  with  the  period  of  Danish  incursions 
we  behold  a  veritable  reign  of  terror  launched 
upon  all  that  was  peaceable  and  good.  Churches 
were  plundered,  schools  destroyed  and  families 
slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  Society  was  thrown 
into  a  state  of  violent  disorder  and  the  peace 
that  nourished  pious  and  noble  life  was  menaced 
on  every  side.  Yet  despite  this  chaos  women  of 
highly  christian  and  refined  calibre  are  often  men- 
tioned in  the  annals  as  the  product  of  the  ninth 
century.  As  disorders  thickened  in  the  years  that 
ensued,  ladies  of  this  type  became  more  numerous. 
With  rare  exceptions  those  recorded  were  of  noble 
rank  and  of  a  nobility  of  mind  that  was  an  orna- 
ment to  their  positions.  One  of  these,  Gormlai,  in 
the  tenth  century,  was  a  queen  in  dignity  and  in 
heart.  Her  conjugal  fidelity  was  so  impressive 
that  it  caused  the  old  writer  to  give  an  unusually 
elabourate  account  of  her.  A  way  of  thorns  was 
her  progress  through  life,  but  her  sorrows  only 
served  as  a  foil  to  set  off  the  tenderness  and 
strength  that  her  soul  enshrined.    She  had  to 

[102] 


Virtuous  and  Nohle  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

lose  the  companionship  of  the  princely  and  noble 
Cormac  Mac  Culinan,  when  the  call  to  the  epis- 
copal dignity  joined  his  royal  sceptre  of  Cashel 
to  the  ecclesiastical  crozier  of  that  kingdom. 
Subsequently,  her  marriage  to  Carroll  of  Leinster 
brought  her  nothing  but  woe.  Cormac  fell  in 
battle  by  the  hand  of  her  second  husband.  As  he 
lay  in  death  the  vilest  indignities  were  offered 
him  by  Carroll.  Gormai  dared  to  reproach  her 
ruthless  husband  for  his  deed,  and  for  her  devotion 
to  a  noble  soul  was  violently  hurled  to  the  ground. 

Later  on,  happiness  momentarily  seemed  to 
beam  on  her  when  Niall  of  Aileach  became  her 
spouse.  But  its  life  was  short,  for  the  maw  of 
battle  claimed  him  as  he  fought  a  patriot's  fight 
against  the  Danes  at  Rathfarnham.  When  the 
hour  of  burial  came,  the  sorrow-stricken  widow 
called  forth  a  funeral  lament  in  honour  of  the 
dead.  And  when  the  sod  was  over  him  and  she 
had  departed  from  the  grave  to  face  a  lonely  life, 
she  never  lost  vision  of  her  faithful  husband. 
Finally  this  fidelity  to  his  memory  cost  her  life 
itself.  One  night  as  she  lay  asleep,  her  haunted 
fancy  summoned  the  departed  to  her  side;  when 
rushing  with  a  flood  of  eagerness  to  embrace  him, 
she  suffered  a  mortal  wound  from  the  headpost 
of  the  bed.  Thus  nobly  did  she  close  her  troubled 
career,  and  go  in  manner  most  pathetic  to  link 
her  spirit  with  that  of  one  to  whose  memory  she 
paid  the  tribute  of  a  martyr's  homage. 


[103] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


At  last  a  brief  lull  came  in  the  terrible  struggle 
with  external  aggression.  The  raven  of  battle  was 
hushed  for  some  years  by  the  army  of  Brian,  and 
the  dove  of  peace  remained  undisturbed.  During 
this  period  we  behold  a  feminine  self-respect  so 
impressive  that  a  lone  lady  could  traverse  the 
length  of  Ireland  without  fear  of  molestation.  It 
is  true  that  Brian's  control  over  the  island  con- 
tributed to  this  lady's  security,  but  such  remark- 
able immunity  from  attack  in  those  days  would 
have  been  most  improbable,  had  woman  not  im- 
planted by  her  previous  noble  bearing  a  genuine 
respect  for  her  sex  in  the  soul  of  the  nation.  It 
showed  a  universality  of  respect  that  was  rooted 
in  a  universality  of  merit  on  the  part  of  women 
that  overwhelms  the  critic  who  seeks  in  the  licen- 
tious temperament  of  a  chieftain,  or  the  undis- 
ciplined mind  of  a  royal  maiden  material 
condemnatory  of  the  moral  status  of  the  nation's 
womanhood. 

A  rather  long  passage  in  the  Wars  of  the  Gall 
and  the  Gael  tells  this  story.  Here  it  would  likely 
have  been  confined  to  students  of  history  had  not 
the  genius  of  Moore  popularised  and  immortalised 
it  in  his  musical  lyric,  ^^Eich  and  Rare."  "We 
think  its  reproduction  here  is  pardonable. 


^'Rich  and  rare  were  the  gems  she  wore 
And  a  bright  gold  ring  on  her  hand  she  bore ; 
But  oh !  her  beauty  was  far  beyond 
Her  sparkling  gems  and  snow-white  wand. 

[104] 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 


*Lady,  dost  thou  not  fear  to  stray, 
So  lone  and  so  lovely  through  this  bleak  way  j 
Are  Erin's  sons  so  good  or  so  cold, 
As  not  to  be  tempted  by  woman  or  goldT 

Sir  Knight!    I  feel  not  the  least  alarm, 
No  son  of  Erin  will  olf  er  me  harm : 
For  though  they  love  women  and  golden  store. 
Sir  Knight !  they  love  honour  and  virtue  more. ! ' 

On  she  went  and  her  maiden  smile 
In  safety  lighted  her  round  the  green  isle ; 
And  blest  forever  is  she  who  relied 
On  Erin's  honour  and  Erin's  pride. 

When  the  years  of  peace  passed  away  with  the 
great  monarch  of  Kinkora,  and  endless  dynastic 
strife  ensued  between  the  claimants  of  his  throne, 
the  women,  praised  by  the  annalists  for  goodness 
of  heart  towards  the  poor  and  the  church  and 
for  love  of  the  penetential,  grew  more  numerous 
than  ever.  To  distant  Rome  went  the  Queen  of 
the  Gailenga  in  1051  seeking  in  penance  a  secure 
passage  to  the  world  beyond.  What  trials  she 
must  have  endured  to  satisfy  her  pious  cravings 
at  the  heart  of  the  christian  world!  A  less  am- 
bitious journey  did  Bibinn,  daughter  of  Brian 
the  Great,  undertake  when  in  1073  she  carried  the 
pilgrim's  staff  to  Armagh,  Patrick's  city.  Here 
she  sojourned  in  self-denial  till  death  brought  her 
quiet  and  peace.  Four  years  later  there  passed 
away  Gormlai,  the  wife  of  Toird,  who  left  behind 
her  a  great  benefactor 's  name.  She  '  ^  distributed, ' ' 


[105] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


says  the  annalist,  ^^mnch  wealth  amongst  cells 
and  churches  and  the  poor  of  the  Lord  for  the 
welfare  of  her  soul. "  To  the  favourite  monastery 
of  Columbkille,  Derry  Mor,  the  daughter  of  King 
Murtagh  O'Brien,  betook  herself,  where  in  1137 
she  passed  away  in  most  edifying  manner.  There 
was  another  king's  daughter  some  decades  later, 
whose  conduct  was  not  so  calculated  to  win  our 
admiration  as  was  that  of  the  0  'Brien  lady.  Yet 
it  had  not  all  the  malice  that  many  give  it  for, 
though  Dervorgilla  deserted  her  husband  for  the 
King  of  Leinster,  she  was  induced  to  do  so  by  the 
cruelty  of  her  own  lord  and  the  encouragement  of 
her  brother.  And  so  much  did  public  opinion 
deem  the  action  of  the  Leinster  King  responsible 
for  her  fall,  and  so  high  was  its  standard  of 
female  morality  that  its  armed  forces  drove  the 
delinquent  monarch  from  his  realm  to  a  Saxon 
shelter.  That  her  sin  was  due  to  weakness  rather 
than  malice  seems  likely,  for  so  keenly  did  she 
feel  the  gravity  of  her  lapse  that  she  endeavored 
to  atone  for  it  for  the  rest  of  her  life  in  monastic 
seclusion.  And  this  was  not  the  only  remarkable 
manifestation  of  goodness  with  which  history  has 
associated  her  name.  Her  gifts  to  the  church  were 
oftentimes  very  considerable,  and  on  one  occasion 
they  eclipsed  those  of  all  generous  givers  before 
her.  In  1158  her  donation  to  the  clergy  on  the 
occasion  of  the  consecration  of  Mellifont  Abbey 
was  sixty  ounces  of  gold,  triple  the  amount  con- 
tributed to  the  premier  see  of  Armagh  by  Brian 


[io6] 


Virtuous  and  Nohle  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

Boru,  whose  munificence  towards  the  church  was 
one  of  his  prime  characteristics. 

Dervorgilla  reminds  us  of  Roderick  O'Connor, 
the  Ard-Ei,  who  espoused  the  cause  of  her  injured 
husband.  In  the  High  King's  life  there  is  other 
evidence  of  the  rigid  moral  rectitude  of  con- 
temporary women.  The  provisions  he  caused  to 
be  made  for  its  preservation  were  so  stringent  and 
so  efficient,  they  demonstrate  that  only  high 
merit  on  the  part  of  those  protected  could  deserve 
such  serious  attention  from  the  nation.  He  con- 
vened a  great  meeting  of  prelates  and  lords  at 
Athboy  in  Meath  in  1167,  where  laws  were  passed 
guaranteeing,  as  in  the  days  of  Brian  the  im- 
munity of  woman  from  attack  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Ireland.  How  well  the 
nation  responded  to  the  demands  of  the  assembly 
we  know  from  Dr.  Lynch,  who  says  they  were 
^^so  salutary,  that  a  woman  might  safely  travel 
through  all  Ireland,  which  then  enjoyed  such  tran- 
quillity as  Northumbria  is  said  by  Bede  to  have 
had  under  the  royal  sway  of  Edwin."* 

It  was  during  the  reign  of  this  Ard-Ri  that  the 
Anglo-Norman  came  in  the  guise  of  a  religious 
reformer.  If  his  plea  had  any  basis  of  sincerity 
he  should  have  seen  that  there  were  many  in  the 
land  far  better  qualified  to  reform  him  than  he 
them.  Amongst  these,  the  ladies  alone  could  prove 
the  hypocrisy  of  the  would-be  evangelists.  They 
continued  to  furnish,  after  English  occupation, 

*  Op.  Oit.  p.  71-2& 

[107] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


conspicuous  examples  of  virtue  that  could  very 
favourably  bear  comparison  with  that  of  their 
sisters  across  the  Irish  sea.  It  is  all  in  vain  for 
apologists  of  the  Saxon  intrusion  to  seek  in  some 
anti-Irish  comments  of  St.  Bernard  a  justification 
of  this  invasion.  If  the  statements  of  St.  Bernard 
were  true  in  relation  to  Ireland,  we  are  justified 
in  assuming  that  they  were  also  applicable  to 
England.  He  has  said  far  harsher  things  of  the 
latter  country  than  he  has  uttered  about  Ireland. 
He  has  stated,  for  instance,  that  immorality  was 
rampant  in  England,  whilst  he  has  spoken  only  of 
some  cases  of  concubinage  in  Ireland.  Besides, 
there  is  abundance  of  evidence  to  substantiate  his 
onslaught  on  English  morals,  whilst  there  is  little 
of  real  weight  to  support  his  anti-Irish  utterances. 

When  we  hear  of  the  Bernardine  accusations, 
we  must  remember  the  noble  women  that  Irish 
homes  still  continued  to  provide.  When  the  first 
marauding  barons  crossed  the  seas,  there  lived  in 
the  palace  of  the  Munster  King  his  daughter 
Etain,  who  some  years  later  was  to  die  in  pil- 
grimage at  Derry.  Fifty  years  afterwards  the 
compiler  of  the  Annals  of  Kilronan  paid  tribute 
to  the  goodness  of  Failge  of  the  house  of  Conor 
Mac  Dermott.  Her  passport  to  immortality  was 
a  comeliness  of  soul  in  consonance  with  that  of  an 
attractive  appearance,  whilst  her  generosity 
threw  open  the  portals  of  her  home  to  all  who 
sought  to  make  happy  in  a  becoming  way  the 
fleeing  hour.    A  contemporary  of  hers  was  the 


[io8] 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

wife  of  the  King  of  Aeleach,  who  was  famed  for 
like  characteristics.  The  Annals  of  Clonmacnoise 
relate  the  religious  ardour  that,  linked  with  a 
quickness  of  intellect  and  sunniness  of  disposition, 
gave  Ireland  in  1269  the  remarkable  Christina 
0  'Neachtain.  She  was,  says  the  annalist, ' '  a  right 
exceeding  beautiful  woman,  well  hymned,  bounti- 
ful in  bestowing,  chaste  of  her  body,  and  ingenious 
and  witty  delivery  of  mind,  devout  in  her  prayers, 
and  finally  she  was  inferior  to  none  other  of  her 
time  for  any  good  parts  requisite  in  a  noble  gentle- 
woman." In  the  West  she  had  one  who  vied  with 
her  in  uprightness  of  character.  This  was 
Lasareena,  the  daughter  of  the  famous  King 
Cathal  O'Connor  of  the  ^Wine-Red  Hand'  who 
was  called  ^Hhe  noblest  in  Ireland  in  her  time.'' 

With  women  of  this  type  presented  to  the 
stranger,  whilst  for  the  first  hundred  years, 
through  lack  of  intimate  acquaintance  with  Irish 
life  he  still  cherished  dreams  of  the  religious  re- 
formation of  Ireland,  it  is  little  wonder  that,  when 
circumstances  threw  him  into  closer  contact  with 
the  native  race,  all  his  doubts  about  the  moral 
greatness  of  the  women  of  the  Gael  were  dispelled. 
As  the  fourteenth  century  grew  beyond  the  stage 
of  infancy,  various  causes,  which  need  not  be  enu- 
merated here  conspired  to  effect  the  amalgamation 
of  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish.  The  settlers  were  com- 
pelled by  the  force  of  events  to  fraternise  with 
the  natives,  and  the  knowledge  thus  acquired  dis- 
pelled their  misapprehensions.   Intermarriage  of 


[109] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

the  two  races  became  frequent,  and  that  one  which 
regarded  itself  as  religiously  the  superior  of  the 
other  became  the  rapid  prey  of  the  latter 's  civil- 
isation. It  was  surely  a  marvel  to  witness  this 
conquest  of  the  foreigners  by  the  life  and  man- 
ners of  a  people  whom,  in  the  highest  department 
of  life,  they  regarded  as  sorely  in  need  of  refor- 
mation. The  marvel  needs  no  comment,  save  that 
it  clearly  proves  that  such  a  fascination  could  not 
have  emanated  from  Irish  life,  had  it  not  been 
better  than  that  of  the  race  it  vanquished. 

In  the  face  of  these  facts  it  is  interesting  to 
know  something  of  some  of  the  leading  women 
who  participated,  by  the  dignity  of  their  lives,  in 
this  conquest  of  the  heart.  One  of  these  we  find 
to  be  Derbail  O'Connor,  who  in  the  first  half  of 
the  fourteenth  century  was  reputed  to  be  ^Hhe 
best  woman  that  ever  came  of  her  own  tribe." 
She  had  during  her  lifetime  a  worthy  rival  in 
goodness  in  Duthalach  Mac  Diamarda,  who  is 
known  to  us  as  ^  ^  a  choice  woman  without  dispute. ' ' 
The  house  of  Aitfric  O'Rahilly  lost  in  1364  a  lady 
of  whom  it  is  handed  down  that  there  was  no 
stint  to  her  goodness  up  to  the  time  of  her 
decease."  The  land  of  Bretfney  sorrowed  in  1367 
for  the  death  of  Derbail  O'Rourke  than  whom 
^Hhere  was  not  since  Una,  daughter  of  the  King 
of  Lochlannn,  a  woman  of  greater  beneficence." 

The  year  in  which  the  last-named  lady  went  to 
her  reward  witnessed  a  weak  and  extreme  legis- 
lative effort  to  stem  the  tide  of  'degeneracy'  that 

[no] 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

had  been  let  loose  upon  the  Anglo-Irish  by  inter- 
course with  such  social  purity  and  brightness  as 
has  just  been  revealed  in  the  persons  of  some  of 
the  leading  ladies  of  the  country.  It  failed  to 
realise  its  end,  for  the  same  clear  and  laughing 
waters  of  Gaelic  life  flowed  on  unabated  as  before 
and  continued  to  woo  the  thirsty  foreigner  to  their 
sweetness.  And  reformers  still  continued  to  be 
reformed. 

In  1371  the  clan  Mac  Carthy  bewailed  the  loss 
of  Joan,  who  had  contributed  to  that  victory  of 
Irish  honour  by  a  life  of  charity  and  lavish  hos- 
pitality. There  came  an  honourable  end  to  an 
honourable  career  when,  in  1378  Mor  O'Farrell, 
^^an  excellent  woman  with  dispute,  died  a  death  of 
Unction  and  Penance  and  was  buried  honourably 
in  Cluain-Conmaicne. "  She  had  as  contempo- 
raries the  wife  of  O'Rourke,  who  was  ^^an  ex- 
cellent woman,''  and  Nuala  O'Farrell,  whose 
entertaining  habits  rendered  her  name  so  fascin- 
ating for  those  of  English  blood  as  to  compel  the 
government  to  give  her  the  hospitality  of  a  prison. 
The  sweet  song  of  Eileen  Aroon,  which  so  capti- 
vated a  genius  like  Handel,  was  inspired  by  the 
^Treasonable'  nobility  of  Eileen  Kavanaugh,  a 
woman  of  this  period.  The  Countess  of  Desmond 
of  this  time  was  no  friend  of  England,  for  the 
sunshine  of  her  palace-life  was  provokingly  Celtic. 

Then  came  Richard  II,  hoping  by  the  mag- 
nificience  of  his  majesty  and  the  terror  of  his  arms 
to  eclipse  that  Celtic  glamour  that  so  hypnotised 

[III] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


his  Saxon  subjects.  His  very  transient  glory  was 
of  little  avail,  for  when  it  departed  with  him  the 
power  of  the  olden  spell  seemed  to  reassert  itself 
upon  the  colonists  with  redoubled  vigour.  The 
avalanche  of  Irish  life  increased  in  velocity  and 
bulk,  as  it  bore  menacingly  nearer  and  nearer  the 
rapidly  waning  strength  of  the  fortress  of  the 
stranger  in  Dublin;  and  the  feminine  elements  in 
that  avalanche  assumed  a  speed  and  massiveness 
that  entitled  them  to  a  substantial  part  in  its 
growing  ability  for  destruction. 

In  1419  the  annalist  takes  note  of  Finmehain  Ua 
Manchain  for  the  purity  that  dwelt  in  her  soul, 
and  the  honesty  that  was  hers  was  well  worth  re- 
cording. Finmehain  could  visit  Thomond  and  feel 
pride  in  meeting  Mor,  daughter  of  the  king  who 
ruled  there,  for  plenty  of  womanly  sense  and 
virtue  was  her  store.  She  was  ^^best  of  her  name 
in  gerorosity,  sense  and  piety  that  was  in  Ireland 
in  her  time. ' '  She  could  pay  a  visit  to  the  land  of 
Breffney  also,  and  take  delight  in  the  company  of 
Gormlai  0  'Rourke,  whose  beauty  of  soul  and  body 
was  the  glory  of  her  sect.  She  could  include  in 
her  itinerary  the  residence  of  Una  0  'Rourke,  for 
there  the  most  hospitable  and  religious  atmos- 
phere of  any  home  in  lower  Connaught  would  greet 
her.  Above  all,  she  could  not  afford  to  neglect  the 
princely  home  of  Margaret  O'Connor  of  Offaly 
which,  owing  to  the  matron  who  directed  its  life, 
had  earned  the  esteem  of  all  Ireland  as  a  centre 
of  beneficence.    In  another  place  we  hope  to 


[112] 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

dwell  more  at  length  on  the  munificence  of 
Margaret,  especially  towards  the  learned.  Here 
we  will  content  ourselves  with  a  few  words  on  the 
spirit  of  fidelity  towards  the  christian  religion 
that  actuated  her.  High  churchmen  were  her  most 
trusted  councillors  and  most  honoured  guests. 
Her  wealth  and  time  were  liberally  devoted  to 
the  erection  of  churches  and  their  becoming  adorn- 
ment. For  the  orphan  and  the  homeless  she  had 
nothing  but  the  tenderest  love  and  solicitude. 

The  next  generation  which  linked  that  of  which 
the  great  Offaly  lady  was  the  finest  product  with 
the  time  of  greatest  debility  in  the  history  of 
Dublin  Castle,  emulated  the  religious  and  civic 
worth  of  the  womanhood  that  has  just  preceded 
it.  In  its  ranks  we  find  in  1444  Duthalai  Mac 
Cahill,  who  cheered  many  a  poverty-stricken  soul 
by  her  generosity.  Twenty-two  years  later  the 
quaint  language  of  the  annalist  informs  us  that 
death  dealt  a  serious  blow  to  Erin  by  depriving 
it  of  Grace  Maguire  for  "a  great  tale  in  Ireland 
was  the  death  of  this  good  woman. ' '  Two  other 
ladies  of  the  same  name  and  time,  Margaret  and 
Ailbe,  were  well  known  for  their  exemplary 
Christianity.  The  latter  ended  by  transferring 
herself  and  her  property  to  the  monastery  of 
Lisgabail.  These  daughters  of  Fermanagh  had 
a  worthy  neighbour  in  Aiff ric  0  'Neill  of  Tirowen, 
''a  superior  woman  without  defect."  Close  by  in 
Tirconnell  they  had  another  rival  in  virtuous  and 
civic  activity  in  Finola  O'Brien,  the  wife  of  Hugh 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

Eoe  O'Donnell.  ^^As  regarded  both  body  and 
soul,  she  had  gained  more  fame  and  renown 
than  any  of  her  contemporaries."  An  act  for 
which  she  can  never  be  forgotten  was  the  bnilding 
of  the  famous  monastery  of  Donegal.  She  was  as 
much  responsible  for  the  execution  of  this  work 
as  was  her  distinguished  husband. 

Irish  monks  had  not  long  been  chanting  their 
psalms  in  this  sacred  edifice  of  the  Northwest  ere 
a  critical  era  in  the  history  of  their  native  land 
had  manifested  itself.  The  first  of  the  Tudors 
came  to  the  throne  of  England,  and  with  his 
arrival  the  tide  that  threatened  to  engulf  the  last 
vestiges  of  English  power  in  Ireland  was  finally 
halted.  Little  by  little  a  variety  of  circumstances 
forced  it  to  retreat  until  the  government  of  Dublin 
was  once  again  on  a  secure  and  aggressive 
position.  The  victory  that  had  been  all  but  com- 
pleted had  gradually  to  be  relinquished  until  the 
decease  of  Elisabeth  witnessed  the  decisive  over- 
throw of  the  tribal  state. 

Yet,  nothing  daunted  the  womanhood  of  Ireland, 
who  continued  to  maintain  the  same  unyielding 
attitude  that  had  characterised  it  heretofore  in 
the  face  of  adversity.  It  held  tenaciously  to  the 
bitter  end  its  old  ideals  of  elevated  living,  though 
the  much  relaxed  grasp  of  another  style  of  living 
had  reasserted  itself  with  an  ever-growing 
strength  and  deadliness. 

In  the  ranks  of  this  never-ceasing  procession 
of  daughters  of  the  Gael  pledged  to  Grod  and 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

country  there  comes  Margaret  0  'Flanagan,  at  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  who  cooperated  with 
her  husband  to    build  a  chapel  in  honour  of  God 
and  Mary  in  Achadh-Mor."    Marching  into  the 
new  century  that  was  so  momentous  in  the  history 
of    Ireland   we    discover    in    Grace  Maguire 
of  Fermanagh  one  whom  an  age  of  innovations 
found  staunchly  adhering  to  the  tradition  of  piety, 
philanthropy  and  humanity  that  was  so  prized  by 
many  a  spirited  dame  in  the  history  of  her  house. 
The  stripling  century  could  lay  claim  to  Margaret 
0  'Eourke,  whose  skill,  ranging  from  the  womanly 
science  of  home-keeping  to  the  sublime  ambition 
of  the  church-builder,  was  the  common  knowledge 
of  all  the  race  of  the  Gael.   She  was  ^^the  unique 
woman  who,  of  what  were  in  Ireland  of  her  time, 
was  of  best  fame  and  hospitality  and  house- 
keeping ....  was  buried  in  a  magnificent  and 
richly  endowed  church    built  by  herself  for  the 
Friars  Manor  close  by  Dromahair.''    It  could 
also  boast  before  its  youth  had  vanished  of  the 
Lady  of  Hugh  0  'Neill,  whose  matronly  ways  and 
social  respectability  were  admirably  based  on  a 
singular  fidelity  to  the  precepts  of  her  Maker. 
And  ere  yet  this  stage  of  its  life  had  vanished  it 
could    furnish    ^^the    Dark    Damsel,    wife  of 
O'Donnell,  whose  mated  virtue  and  wit  few  could 
afford  to  dispute. ' ' 

Then  came  a  challenge  from  across  the  waters 
to  Irish  loyalty  not  only  to  fatherland,  but  also 
to  faith.    Eeligious   scruples  that  were  mat- 

[115] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


rimonially  very  convenient  severely  afflicted 
Henry  VIII  and  finally  resulted  in  his  severence 
from  the  church  of  Eome.  Not  content  with  re- 
formation of  creed  in  himself,  he  sought  to  extend 
his  change  of  conscience  to  Ireland  as  well.  With 
what  hostility  the  nation  received  his  suggestion 
is  well  known.  It  beheld  in  it  a  more  pernicious 
menace  to  its  life  and  civilisation  than  had  hitherto 
been  essayed,  and  treated  it  as  such.  It  saw  in 
the  new  assault  a  deadly  thrust  at  a  faith  which 
had  become  an  integral  part  of  its  ancient  mode 
of  life,  and  had  entered  into  its  every  part  purify- 
ing, strengthening  and  glorifying  it.  It  is  in  this 
new  concept  of  the  novel  features  of  this  Saxon 
campaign  that  the  real  key  to  the  secret  of  Irish 
resistance  must  be  sought,  for  the  nation  sus- 
tained its  faith  not  merely  for  its  christian,  but 
for  its  Gaelic  value  and  its  civilisation  not  solely 
for  its  temporal  but  for  its  eternal  preciousness. 

In  the  teeth  of  this  new  gale  of  imperial  vin- 
dictiveness,  the  heroic  hardihood  evinced  by  the 
women  who  aided  the  nation  to  survive  the  storm 
becomes  more  and  more  interesting.  While  Henry 
was  preoccupied  with  the  business  of  transforming 
himself  into  a  Saxon  pope  Judith  O'Donnell,  the 
wife  of  the  cultured  Manus,  continued  as  of  old 
to  display  in  a  prominent  way  her  devotion  to  the 
precepts  that  emanated  from  the  ^old-fashioned^ 
papacy  of  Rome  and  the  generous  traditions  of 
her  fathers.  When  with  more  radical  projects  in 
view  Elisabeth  intensified  the  policy  of  her  father 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

she  found  one  who  little  heeded  her  schemes  for 
the  religious  and  social  ^betterment'  of  the  Irish 
people.  This  was  Grace  O'Malley,  the  mariner 
Queen  of  the  West.  Sturdy  of  soul  and  unyielding 
as  the  billows  that  harassed  her  native  shores, 
she  was  like  them  pure  at  heart.  The  Lady  of 
Windsor  might  ravage  monasteries,  confiscate 
ecclesiastical  property  and  destroy  the  shrines  of 
the  saints,  but  Grace  would  prove  her  religious 
conservatism  by  a  contractive  policy  in  the  spheres 
where  Elisabeth's  was  destructive.  A  monastery 
on  Clare  Island  still  bears  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  Grace  loved  to  bestow  her  wealth  on  the 
temples  and  shrines  that  Elisabeth  despised.  And 
that  the  race  which  produced  so  many  church- 
builders  might  continue  to  preserve  its  wonderful 
vigour  and  vitality,  she  gave  all  the  weight  of  her 
encouragement  to  the  practice  of  early  marriages 
and  the  rearing  of  healthy  children  who  would  be 
a  bulwark  against  the  enemies  of  faith  and  father- 
land. 

In  later  years,  while  the  Elisabethan  fury 
raged  at  its  worst  there  was  one  in  Breffny, 
Gormlai  O'Eourke,  who  maintained  the  ideals  of 
munificence  towards  the  church  which  character- 
ised Grace.  Her  festive  board,  too,  served  to  keep 
some  of  the  old  love  of  the  ancient  life  and  some 
of  the  warmth  of  hope  in  the  hearts  of  her  clans- 
men. A  little  later  lived  Mor  O'Brien,  who  was 
^'a  woman  praiseworthy  in  the  ways  of  woman," 
when  the  ravagers  of  Ireland  did  so  much  to  strip 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


Irish  femininity  of  its  self-respect.  Aye,  even 
towards  the  close  of  the  Elisabethan  era  of 
^f  rightfulness/  Joan  Maguire,  the  pride  of 
Fermanagh,  was  herself  a  living  proof  that  the 
conquest  effected  by  the  sword  and  famine  left 
the  Gaelic  soul  of  Irish  womanhood  unvanquished. 
When  famine  stalked  throughout  the  land  claim- 
ing thousands  of  victims  and  leaving  some  places 
tenanted  only  by  wolves,  and  when  many  a 
daughter  of  the  Gael  was  left  fatherless  and 
brotherless,  she  did  what  she  could  for  the  widow, 
the  orphan  and  the  penury-stricken  and  outlawed 
clergy.  In  the  words  of  the  analist  she  ^Svas  the 
pillar  of  support  and  maintenance  of  the  indigent 
and  the  mighty,  of  the  poets  and  exiled,  of  widows 
and  orphans,  of  the  clergy  and  men  of  science,  of 
the  poor  and  the  needy. ' ' 

Before  parting  with  the  noble  women  whose 
lives  contributed  such  staying  power  to  the  nation 
in  its  attachment  to  Gaelic  traditions  in  this  most 
critical  of  centuries  in  Irish  history,  we  intend 
to  give  some  further  general  evidence  to  substan- 
tiate what  has  been  revealed  in  the  careers  of  the 
women  who  have  been  recorded. 

We  will  begin  with  the  testimony  of  Captain 
Cuellar,  a  Spaniard,  who  has  provided  us  with 
some  impressions  he  received  from  a  journey 
through  Ireland.  There  is  reason  for  believing 
that  this  gentleman  was  in  no  way  prejudiced  in 
favour  of  the  Irish,  for  in  his  account  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  record  some  incidents  that  were  not 

[ii8] 


Virtuous  and  Nohle  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

creditable  to  Ireland.  Happily,  there  is  every 
reason  for  believing  that  these  were  isolated  and 
abnormal,  and  in  no  way  indicated  anything  like 
a  universality  of  prevalence.  Neither  did  he 
leave  behind  him  any  statement  condemnatory  in 
a  general  way  of  the  people  amongst  whom  he 
fared.  But  a  statement  has  survived  in  favour  of 
Irish  women.  He  pays  a  tribute  to  their  fine  in- 
stinct for  the  management  of  the  home,  saying 
that,  as  a  body,  they  were  great  workers  and 
housekeepers  after  their  fashion."*  In  this  pithy 
assertion  there  is  much  more  than  might  appear 
at  first  sight.  Where  a  hard-working  womanhood 
obtains  there  is  little  opportunity  for  anything 
save  moral  strength  and  civic  integrity.  When  the 
home  is  the  central  sphere  of  that  labour,  it  in- 
contestably  proves  the  existence  of  an  upright 
and  useful  womanhood. 

Confirming  and  developing  Cuellar's  statement 
comes  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Lynch.  He  informs 
us  of  his  belief  in  the  splendid  loyalty  of  Irish 
women  to  their  marriage  vows  and  a  modesty  of 
bearing  which  characterised  their  domestic  ac- 
tivity. With  regard  to  matrimonial  life  he  states : 

nothing  can  induce  me  to  believe  that  promis- 
cuous lusts  were  indulged  and  that  the  marriage 
tie  was  disregarded  by  the  Irish  .....  when  I 
reflect  that  this  same  people,  when  yet  pagans, 
paid  such  respect  to  their  women,  that  they  would 
not  allow  them  to  intermarry  with  the  Picts,  with- 


*  Adventures,  ed.  AUingham.  p.  62. 

-  [119] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


out  the  express  stipulation  that  the  maternal  line 
should  be  preferred  to  the  paternal  in  the  royal 
succession.  This  connubial  purity  and  loyalty 
seemed  to  be  indicated  in  the  sense  of  decorum 
and  studied  simplicity  manifested  in  their  external 
appearance.  ^^They  did  not  polish  their  cheeks 
with  rouge  nor  borrow  fair  complexions  from 
ceruse.  If  they  were  handsome  they  studied  more 
to  be  inviolably  faithful  to  their  husbands  than  to 
heighten  their  beauty  by  ornament;  if  they  were 
not  handsome  they  did  not  aggravate  the  defect 
by  deformity  of  soul.''**^ 

But  perhaps  the  most  indestructible  argument 
he  provides  us  for  their  moral  integrity  was  their 
affection  for  their  children.  Where  the  maternal 
instinct  is  pure  and  strong  a  loose  conception  of 
marriage  obligations  is  a  very  rare  abnormality. 
That  this  was  preeminently  realised  in  Irish 
mothers  has  been  asserted  by  Lynch.  There  is 
no  quarter  of  the  world/'  he  says,  where  the 
infant  is  attended  with  more  affectionate  solicitude 
than  in  Ireland  at  the  present  day."  And  the 
energy,  valour  and  strength  of  the  manhood  of 
that  time  was  in  itself  no  feeble  revelation  of  the 
veracity  of  the  author  of  Cambrensis  Eversus. 

In  the  light  of  all  this  favourable  evidence  it  is 
interesting  to  consider  for  a  moment  the  accusa- 
tion of  excessive  love  of  drink  that  many  English 
writers  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 

*  Op.  Cit.  p.  353-4. 

*  Dr.  Lynch,  Op.  Oit.  p.  223. 

[120] 


Virtuous  and  Noble  from  the  Dane  to  Elizabeth 

level  at  Irish  womanhood.  In  the  first  place,  if  the 
Saxon  assertions  were  perfectly  true,  it  is  certain 
that  that  standard  of  morality  which  from  other 
sources  we  know  to  have  been  the  property  of 
Irish  women  could  not  possibly  have  existed. 
Secondly,  slanderous  language  about  Irish  char- 
acter was  no  unusual  thing  in  those  days,  and  by 
no  means  helps  the  veracity  of  these  English 
writers  who  speak  of  Irish  feminine  affection  for 
strong  liquor.  Thirdly,  their  accusations  are  in  no 
way  substantiated  by  any  of  the  native  records. 
Perhaps  their  ^high  conception'  of  Irish  civilisa- 
tion unduly  affected  their  teeming  imaginations 
and  led  them  to  assume  the  existence  of  more  pro- 
nounced bibulous  tendencies  in  Ireland  than  in 
England,  where  they  could  contemplate  those  pot- 
houses half-full  of  tippling  women  whom  their 
own  literature  portrayed. 

With  this  we  must  bring  this  chapter  to  a  close. 
We  do  so  feeling  confident  that  the  matter  con- 
tained therein  demonstrates  that  the  strength  of 
purity  and  the  sunshine  of  geniality  which  made 
their  home  in  the  soul  of  Irish  womanhood  from 
the  Danish  to  the  Elisabethan  troubles  played  no 
inconsiderable  part  in  the  work  of  keeping  the 
spirit  of  Ireland  elevated,  self-reliant  and  unsub- 
dued when  the  grandeur  of  its  civilisation  had  been 
humbled  to  the  dust. 


[121] 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Devotion  to  Letters  from  the  Sixth  to  the 


HERE  are  many  who  contend  that  a  life 


devoted  to  high  intellectual  emprises  ex- 


tracts all  that  is  most  womanly  and  best 
from  woman.  Whatever  amount  of  truth  may  be 
contained  in  this  theory  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
radical  exclusion  of  woman  from  the  sphere  of 
literature  can  mean  for  a  nation  the  loss  of  a 
substantial  influence  that  might  be  highly  con- 
ducive to  its  moral  and  mental  betterment. 
Whether  woman  be  the  intellectual  inferior  of 
man  or  not  she  is  from  the  numerical  standpoint 
as  important  a  fraction  of  the  nation  as  man,  and 
the  amount  of  mental  power  residing  in  her  as  a 
part  of  the  national  entity  must  always  be  very 
considerable.  Besides,  her  donation  to  the  printed 
page  is  calculated  to  embody  in  a  more  marked 
degree  certain  educational  qualities  which  are  of 
rather  rare  occurence  in  the  products  of  the  mas- 
culine literateur. 

With  this  in  mind  we  cannot  help  feeling  regret 
that  so  many  centuries  of  the  world's  history 
passed  away  with  woman  as  a  negligible  quantity 
in  literature.  In  Ireland,  however,  we  do  not  dis- 


ElGHTEENTH  CeNTURY 


[122] 


Devotion  to  Letters,  600-1800  A.D. 


cover  such  a  notable  absence  of  woman  from 
things  literary.  Though  in  this  country,  as  in 
every  other,  women  writers  were  very  rare  until 
the  centuries  that  history  calls  modern,  interest 
in  letters  and  learned  men  attained  a  degree  of 
intensity  and  continuity  that  can  scarcely  be 
paralleled  elsewhere. 

This  Irish  feminine  delight  in  letters  manifested 
itself  in  the  desire  of  mediaeval  women  to  acquire 
several  languages.  It  could  be  seen  in  the  fact 
that  even  in  the  earliest  stages  of  the  history  of 
christian  Ireland,  women  of  the  world  as  well  as 
those  who  had  assumed  the  garb  of  religion  had 
the  ambition  to  transmit  their  thoughts  in  both 
prosaic  and  poetic  form  to  the  guardianship  of  the 
manuscript.  Above  all,  it  was  apparent  in  the 
history  of  that  long  line  of  noble  ladies  whose 
patronage  and  encouragement  sheltered  and  stim- 
ulated within  the  precincts  of  their  homes  the 
literati'  of  their  land. 

Earlier  in  this  book  we  had  occasion  to  speak 
of  woman's  literary  activity  within  the  cloister 
during  the  golden  age  of  Irish  Christianity.  We 
can  go  back  to  the  same  period  and  find  her  sister 
in  secular  life  essaying  similar  work.  In  the  sixth 
century  the  mother  of  King  Branduff  had  a  writ- 
ing style  which  was  evidently  utilised  on  wax 
tablets.  We  are  not  compelled  to  deduce  from 
meagre  fact  the  common  ability  of  her  sisters  of 
the  Gael  to  manipulate  the  pen.  It  is  distinctly 
stated  in  the  old  record  that  ladies  were  ordinarily 


[123] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


able  to  accomplish  such  a  feat.  Before  we  leave 
the  era  of  the  saints,  we  find  the  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Culann  betaking  herself  to  the  great 
school  of  Clonard  to  learn  to  read  the  psalms  in 
Latin.  Thus  she  displayed  a  desire  not  only  to 
have  a  direct  knowledge  of  the  scriptures,  but  to 
acquire  a  working  grasp  of  one  of  the  learned 
languages  of  antiquity.  It  shows  also  that  young 
ladies  had  the  same  privilege  as  boys  seeking  cul- 
ture at  the  learned  institutions  of  the  time.  Very 
likely  it  was  due  to  such  training  that  the  lady 
nurse  of  Cuicamne  was  able  to  utter  in  bardic 
fashion  over  him  whose  impromptu  verses  which 
paid  tribute  to  the  learning  which  was  his  whilst 
he  lived. 

Later  on,  while  the  Danish  storm  was  raging, 
some  poems  exhaling  a  delicate  intermingling  of 
joy  and  sorrow  are  supposed  to  have  come  from 
the  pen  of  Gormlai.  In  her,  Ireland  can  probably 
claim  to  have  given  birth  to  the  earliest  historical 
woman  writer,  and  one  too  who,  as  the  world's 
feminine  literary  pioneer,  was  the  author  of  a 
considerable  amount  of  verse,  for  according  to  the 
Annals  of  Clonmacnoise  she  ^'composed  many 
pitifiul  and  learned  ditties."  Her  Lament  for 
NialP'  was  her  best  production,  being  character- 
ised by  originality  and  sincerity  and  a  passion 
that  knows  a  striking  restraint  in  its  greatest 
fervour.  Its  poignancy  was  aggravated  by  the 
fact  that  it  arose  from  hearing  the  joyful  sounds 
of  a  wedding  which,  kindling  within  her  a  remin- 


[124] 


Devotion  to  Letters,  1600-1800  A.D. 

iscent  mood,  sent  her  back  in  fancy  to  happy  days, 
the  glory  of  which  when  contrasted  with  her  pres- 
ent state  of  bereavement  led  to  a  splendid  sorrow. 

With  this  knowledge  of  woman's  association 
with  literature  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  chris- 
tian era  we  can,  with  high  expectation  of  finding 
that  relationship  continued,  transfer  our  attention 
to  the  middle  ages.  And  we  are  not  to  suffer  dis- 
appointment, for  we  find  women  so  vigorous  in 
the  prosecution  of  their  literary  avocations  that 
the  English  government  regarded  them  as  worthy 
of  its  persecuting  attention.  A  Presentment  of  the 
Grand  Jury  at  Cork  in  the  fourteenth  century 
mentioned  in  an  unfavourable  light  as  poets, 
chroniclers  and  rhymers''  the  names  of  Mary 
O'Donoughue  and  Mary  Clancy.  Another  who 
might  merit  similar  notice  of  the  enemy  of  Irish 
learning  was  Fionnuala  Mac  Finghinn,  who  was 
known  about  the  middle  of  this  century  as  ^^the 
woman  who  was  best  that  was  in  Ireland  in  her 
own  sphere  as  the  wife  of  a  learned  man."  There 
yet  remains  one  lady,  Aine  Mac  Keon,  who  de- 
serves recognition  as  one  of  the  distinguished 
women  of  this  century.  She  can  not  have  escaped 
the  fascination  of  letters,  for  she  was  married  to 
Matthew  O'Eogain,  who,  according  to  the  Annals 
of  Ulster  was  ^ ^fourteen  years  continuously  in 
Oxford  delivering  lectures."  If  then  as  the  wife 
of  this  cultured  man  she  was  the  chief  entertainer 
and  tribe-head  of  her  ilk,"  it  is  no  farfetched  con- 

[1^5] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


elusion  that  her  services  were  usually  at  the 
disposal  of  those  who  experienced  the  hypnotism 
of  their  ancient  lore. 

Following  the  highway  of  learning  into  the  next 
century  we  continue  to  find  amid  the  bardic  com- 
panies that  trod  thereon  ladies  who  joined  in  the 
procession  to  encourage  or  participate  in  its  work. 
Fiounnuala  0 'Kelly,  well-known  for  her  piety, 
thought  she  was  doing  work  of  a  supernatural 
quality  when  her  patronage  went  out  to  the 
literati'.  She  was  "di  woman  that  was  a  gen- 
eral protection  to  the  learned  companies  of  Ire- 
land." The  next  generation  produced  a  lady, 
Maragaret  O'Connor  of  Offaly,  in  whose  per- 
sonality the  spirit  of  mediaeval  literary  patronage 
reached  its  apogee.  The  munificent  attitude  she 
displayed  in  this  matter  is  sufficient  to  enthrone 
her  as  one  of  the  most  illustrious  personages  in 
all  the  history  of  the  principality  of  Offaly.  The 
receptions  she  provided  for  the  learned  ones  had 
a  vastness  and  splendour  that  was  truly  regal. 
Her  invitation  was  not  circumscribed  even  by  the 
four  seas  of  her  native  land,  for  her  noble  hand 
prof  erred  hospitality  to  the  children  of  the  Gael 
in  exile,  as  well  as  at  home.  The  numbers  that 
responded  to  her  call  were  immense,  but  no  one 
left  her  princely  residence  unsatisfied. 

We  can  not  part  with  this  noble  woman  without 
giving  that  enthusiastic  description  of  one  of  her 
great  receptions,  which  Mac  Firbis  has  handed 

[126] 


Devotion  to  Letters,  600-1800  A.D. 


down  to  us.  We  are  told  that  twice  in  the  year 
1434  whilst  a  dreadful  famine  searched  the  vitals 
of  the  land  did  generous  Margaret  open  her  home 
to  the  learned  of  Ireland  and  those  who  dwelt  in 
Scotland.  With  Mac  Firbis  as  narrator,  let  us 
listen  for  a  moment  to  his  tale  of  the  splendid 
pageantry  of  intellectualism  that  distinguished 
one  of  these  occasions.  '^All  persons,  Irish  and 
Scottish,  or  rather  Albans"  were  welcomed  by 
Margaret,  ^^as  it  is  recorded  in  a  Roll  to  that 
effect,  and  the  account  was  made  thus,  that  the 
chief  kins  of  each  family  of  the  learned  Irish 
was  by  Gilla-na-Naemh  Mac  Egan's  hand,  the  chief 
judge  to  O'Connor,  written  in  the  Roll,  and  his 
adherents  and  kinsmen,  so  that  the  aforesaid 
number  of  2700  was  listed  in  the  Roll  with  the 

arts  of  dan  or  poetry,  music  and  antiquity  

And  Margaret  on  the  garrets  of  the  great  church 
of  Da  Sinchell  clad  in  cloth  of  gold,  her  dearest 
friends  about  her,  her  clergy  and  judges  too, 
Calvage  himself  on  horseback  by  the  church's  out- 
ward side,  to  the  end  that  all  things  might  be  done 

orderly  and  each  one  served  successively  

As  it  was  we  never  saw  nor  heard  neither  the  like 
of  that  day  nor  comparable  to  its  glory  and  solace. 

 And  so  we  have  been  informed  that  the 

second  day  in  Rathangan  (on  the  feast  of  the 
Assumption  in  harvest)  was  nothing  inferior  to 
the  first  day.  And  she  was  the  only  woman  that 
had  made  most  of  preparing  all  manner  of 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


things  possible  to  serve  God  and  her  soul,  and  not 
that  only,  but  while  the  world  stands  her  very 
many  gifts  to  the  Irish  and  Scottish  nations  shall 
never  be  numbered.  God's  blessing,  the  blessing 
of  all  saints  and  every  other  blessing  from 
Jerusalem  to  Inis  Gluair  be  on  her  going 
to  Heaven,  and  blessed  be  he  that  will  hear  and 
read  this  for  blessing  her  soul/'*  Well,  indeed, 
did  the  lady  responsible  for  such  a  scene  merit 
the  eulogy  of  Thomas  D'Arcy  Magee  when  he 
says: 

' '  She  made  the  bardic  spirit  strong  to  face  the  evil  days. 
To  the  princes  of  a  feudal  age  she  taught  the  might  of 
love, 

And  her  name,  though  woman's  shall  be  scrolled  their 
warrior  names  above." 

A  few  others  in  this  century  who  befriended  the 
^literati'  we  should  like  to  place  in  this  book  in 
the  company  of  Margaret  of  Offaly.  There  died 
in  1447  Sarah  0  'Mulchonry,  who  so  tenderly  loved 
the  bards  that  she  was  called  a  nurse  to  all  the 
learned."  In  the  following  generation  lived 
Slaine,  the  wife  of  Mac  William  Burke  of 
Clanrickard,  whose  bounty  towards  ^sons  of  learn- 
ing' was  almost  as  ambitious  as  Margaret's.  She 
^^was  general  protector  of  the  (bardic)  bands  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland  and  a  woman  who  was  of 
best  charity  and  humanity  that  was  in  her  time." 
And  before  the  century  had  vanished  into  the  past 
it  could  lay  claim  to  Margaret  0  'Rahilly,  a  scholar 


*  Mrs.  Green.  Op.  Cit.  Quot.  pp.  346-7. 

[128] 


Devotion  to  Letters,  600-1800  A.D. 

of  considerable  ability,  for  she  was  ^  learned  in 
Latin  and  in  English  and  in  Irish. 

Coming  to  the  age  of  the  Tudors,  which  wit- 
nessed so  much  intellectual  brilliancy  in  England, 
and  yet  so  much  Saxon  antagonism  towards  the 
development  of  any  such  cultural  magnificence  in 
Ireland,  we  find  the  women  of  the  Gael  still  help- 
ing, as  far  as  in  them  lay,  those  who  had  con- 
secrated themselves  to  the  high  emprises  of  the 
poet,  chronicler  and  raconteur.  In  the  first  part 
of  this  age  the  lady  of  Hugh  0  'Neill  was  as  noted 
for  her  affection  for  ^folk  of  learning'  as  for  her 
ardent  piety.  Whilst  this  lady  entertained  in  the 
North,  the  wife  of  Eory  Mac  Dermott  in  the  West 
performed  a  kindred  labour  of  love  towards  the 
devotees  of  literature.  In  her  home  at  Lough 
Key  she  cooperated  enthusiastically  with  her  hus- 
band to  make  cheerful  the  lot  of  those  men  of 
letters  who  were  the  target  of  the  persecuting 
Saxon.  The  tradition  of  generosity  she  upheld 
was  sustained  in  the  ensuing  generation  within 
the  province  where  Lough  Key  was  situated,  by 
Sheela  Mac  William  Burke.  No  man  of  letters, 
whatever  his  tribe  might  be,  came  unwelcomed  to 
her  homestead,  for  it  was  ^^the  resort  of  bards 
from  the  Liffey  side,  of  the  Dalcassions'  choice 
poets,  of  the  schoolmen  from  near  Barnasmore,  of 
the  tale-reciters  and  of  minstrels  out  of  every  airt 
in  Ireland.''*   A  contemporary  of  hers  was  the 


*  0' Grady.  Cat.  of  MSS  in  British  Museum.  404. 

[129] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


wife  of  Brian  Mac  Manus,  whose  all-embracing 
hospitality  was  as  powerfully  focussed  upon  the 
literary  man  as  the  pilgrim  and  the  penury- 
stricken  wanderer.  As  the  annalist  states  it,  she 
was  ^Hruly  hospitable  to  the  poor  of  God  and  to 
the  (bardic)  bands  and  retinues,  and  to  pilgrims 
and  to  permanent  beggars,  to  erudite  and  to 
ollaves,  to  every  one  of  those  that  were  wont  to 
be  seeking  largess  throughout  Ireland.''*  In  1583 
died  Margaret  O'Donnell,  who  won  the  praise  of 
the  poet,  Teigue  Dall,  for  the  protection  she  be- 
stowed on  men  of  learning.  And  even  as  late  as 
the  year  1600,  when  the  polity  that  had  encouraged 
and  endowed  the  learned  orders  had  gone  dowai 
in  defeat,  there  was  a  Jean  Maguire  of 
Fermanagh,  who  was  ^Hhe  pillar  of  support  and 
maintenance  ....  of  the  poets  and  of  men  of 
science." 

Noble,  indeed,  was  the  part  which  the  women 
of  Ireland  played  in  the  preservation  of  the 
learned  tradition  of  the  land.  No  national  ad- 
versities divorced  them  from  fidelity  to  that 
cause,  and  though  despite  their  efforts  the  bardic 
bands"  followed  almost  in  their  entirety  the  fun- 
eral train  of  the  civilisation  of  the  brehons  to  its 
seventeenth  century  grave,  they  helped  to  preserve 
through  centuries  of  bardic  effort  the  abiding 
impress  of  the  old  tradition  upon  the  national 
soul,  an  impress  that  no  slayers  of  bard  or  brehon 

*  Annals  of  Ulster,  ed.  Hennessy.  Dub.  1580. 

[130] 


Devotion  to  Letters,  600-1800  A.D. 


could  eradicate.  That  spirit  had  to  languish  for 
many  years  to  come  behind  prison  bars,  but  it 
knew  no  fear  of  death,  and  only  awaited  the  day 
when  the  slightest  liberalism  of  the  oppressor 
should  enable  it  to  reassert  itself  with  resurrected 
glory  in  a  literature  the  progress  of  which  shall 
never  be  interrupted  until  full  freedom  greets  it 
in  the  land  of  its  production. 


[131] 


CHAPTER  IX 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 

WHEN  at  the  dawn  of  the  seventeenth 
century  we  parted  with  the  last  of  those 
heroic  women  whose  activities  were  asso- 
ciated with  the  last  agony  of  the  Gaelic  system  of 
government,  we  saw  in  the  glory  of  their  vanishing 
forms  the  assurance  that  a  something  essential 
to  nationhood  yet  abided,  and  could  not,  like  the 
organism  of  a  governmental  system,  be  reduced 
by  gun  and  sword  to  inanimate  helplessness.  We 
are  now  about  to  consider  how  the  women  who 
came  after  them  received  the  deathless  ideals  that 
had  been  transmitted  to  them  by  the  ladies  who 
held  them  aloft  over  the  ruin  accomplished  by 
the  Tudors,  and  fought  for  that  soul-heritage 
until  our  present  time. 

The  reigns  of  James  I  and  Charles  I  passed 
away  leaving  little  of  particular  interest  in  fem- 
inine activity  to  be  recorded.  During  this  period 
the  patriotic  energy  of  women  had,  for  the  most 
part,  to  be  confined  to  the  inner  recesses  of  their 
hearts.  For  its  outward  display  there  was  but 
meagre  opportunity  left,  for  the  aggressive 
forces  of  their  land  were  temporarily  shattered. 
With  the  rest  of  the  nation,  they  found  them- 

[132] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


selves  utterly  helpless  in  the  hands  of  the  spolia- 
tors, who  came  to  complete  by  wholesale 
confiscation  of  the  landed  patrimony  of  the  tribes 
the  work  of  infamy  that  Elizabeth  had  per- 
petrated. With  a  wave  of  ejection  from  the 
stronghold  of  their  fathers  sweeping  over  the 
country,  the  only  sphere  left  them  for  heroism 
was  within  the  domain  of  the  mind,  which  they 
might  still  hold  intact,  despite  the  hell  of  ruth- 
lessness  that  was  raging  round  them.  They  could 
still  preserve  the  determination  never  to  be  evicted 
from  the  world  of  Gaelic  ideals,  though  deprived 
of  their  ancestral  halls  and  lands.  That  this  was 
the  case  their  heroic  activity  in  an  approaching 
age  was  to  manifest. 

The  era  that  was  to  show  their  fidelity  arrived 
when  the  parliament  of  England  threw  down  the 
gage  of  battle  to  Charles  I.  The  worthless  king 
permitted  the  nation  he  had  persecuted  to  arm 
itself  on  his  behalf  when,  taking  advantage  of  the 
civil  war  in  England,  it  might  with  far  more  utility 
for  itself,  have  endeavoured  to  get  rid  of  both 
cavalier  and  roundhead.  However,  it  was  nation- 
ally sincere  in  the  policy  it  adopted,  for,  when 
Charles  was  losing  in  England  it  hoped  to  appro- 
priate him  as  the  ruler  of  an  independent  anti- 
Cromwellian  Ireland.  Besides,  he  was  of  Celtic 
stock,  and  was  not  regarded  as  an  intruder  into 
the  family  life  of  the  Gael,  provided  he  severed 
all  connections  with  the  sovereignty  of  the  Saxon. 


[133] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


A  crucial  test  of  Irish  loyalty  to  its  own  ideals 
whilst  advocating  the  cause  of  the  Stuart,  was  the 
treatment  meted  out  to  the  nation  when  the  Iron- 
sides of  the  Protector  of  England  won  the  day 
against  royalty.  That  is  a  fact  well  known  to 
readers  of  history.  Here  we  intend  to  show  how 
conspicuously  the  womanhood  of  Ireland  shared 
the  punishment  for  staunchness  to  its  Celtic  past. 

We  will  open  the  bitter,  yet  glorious,  tale  with 
a  recital  of  some  instances  of  the  blood-lust  of 
the  Puritans  and  the  indiscriminate  venting  of  its 
fury  upon  women  as  well  as  men.  When  heroic 
Drogheda  capitulated  after  a  wonderful  resis- 
tance, the  number  of  women  who  share  with  the 
men  the  tender  ^ mercy'  of  the  Puritan  sword  eas- 
ily exceeded  the  thousand  mark.  In  the  vault  of  one 
church,  where  a  large  number  of  women  had  taken 
refuge,  not  a  single  lady  escaped  a  cruel  death. 
When  Coote  plundered  and  destroyed  the  town 
of  Clontarf  he,  as  admitted  by  Lord  Clarendon, 
massacred  the  women  and  three  suckling 
infants."  In  the  same  week  the  ladies  of  the 
village  of  Bullock,  fearful  of  sharing  the  fate  of 
their  sisters  of  Clontarf,  betook  themselves  in 
boats  to  sea.  Thither  Colonel  Clifford  pursued 
them  where,  being  overtaken,  they  were  all 
throAvn  overboard."  Who  does  not  know  of  how 
the  heartless  soldiery  butchered  three  hundred 
women  as  they  knelt  round  the  cross  in  the  market 
place  of  Wexford  town?  Worse  than  any  we  have 


[134] 


Heroines  From  Elizaheth  to  the  Present  Day 


recounted,  perhaps,  was  the  massacre  of  Island 
Magee,  where  the  naked  steel  and  the  jagged 
precipice  were  the  weapons  used  by  the  Cromwel- 
lian  ruffians  to  dispatch  helpless  women.  After 
multitudes  of  them  had  been  done  to  death  in 
their  beds,  the  remnant  was  driven  at  the  bayonet 
point  over  the  Gobbins  cliffs,  where  the  lacerating 
rocks  and  the  icy  waves  completed  the  work  of 
the  murdering  steel.  The  vision  of  surging  woe 
and  infamy  that  the  tale  of  that  night's  crime 
produced  in  the  fancy  of  Ethna  Carbery  has  re- 
sulted in  as  fierce  a  song  of  vengeance  as  Ireland's 
poetic  anthology  contains.  We  make  no  apology 
for  giving  it  in  its  entirety. 

**I  am  Brian  Boy  Magee  — 
My  father  was  Eoghan  Ban  — 
I  was  awakened  from  happy  dreams 
By  the  shouts  of  my  startled  clan ; 
And  I  saw  through  the  leaping  glare 
That  marked  where  our  homestead  stood, 
My  mother  swing  by  her  hair  — 
And  m}'  brothers  lie  in  their  blood. 

In  the  creepy  cold  of  the  night 
The  pitiless  wolves  came  down  — 
Scotch  troops  from  the  Castle  grim 
Guarding  Knockfergus  town ; 
And  they  hacked  and  lashed  and  hewed, 
With  musket  and  rope  and  sword, 
Till  my  murdered  kin  lay  thick, 
In  pools,  by  the  Slaughter  Ford. 

[135] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


I  fought  by  my  father's  side, 
And  when  we  were  fighting  sore 
We  saw  a  line  of  their  steel 
With  our  shrieking  women  before ; 
The  red-coats  drove  them  on 
To  the  verge  of  the  Gobbins  gray, 
Hurried  them,  God,  the  sight ! 
As  the  sea  foamed  up  for  its  prey. 

Oh !  tall  were  the  Gobbin  cliffs. 
And  sharp  were  the  rocks,  my  woe ! 
^  And  tender  the  limbs  that  met 

Such  terrible  death  below  ; 
Mother  and  babe  and  maid 
They  clutched  at  the  empty  air, 
With  eyeballs  widened  in  fright. 
That  hour  of  despair. 

(Sleep  soft  in  your  heaving  bed, 

0  little  fair  love  of  my  heart ! 
The  bitter  oath  I  have  sworn 
Shall  be  of  my  life  a  part ; 
And  for  every  piteous  prayer 
You  prayed  on  your  way  to  die, 
May  I  hear  an  enemy  plead. 
While  I  laugh  and  deny.) 

In  the  dawn  that  was  gold  and  red. 
Ay,  red  as  the  blood-choked  stream, 

1  crept  to  the  perilous  brink  — 
Great  Christ!  was  the  night  a  dream? 
In  all  the  island  of  gloom 

I  only  had  life  that  day  — 

Death  covered  the  green  hill-sides, 

And  tossed  in  the  Bay. 


[136] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 

I  have  vowed  by  the  pride  of  my  sires  — 
By  my  mother's  wandering  ghost  — 
By  my  kinsfolk's  shattered  bones 
Hurled  on  the  cruel  coast  — 
By  the  sweet,  dead  face  of  my  love, 
And  the  wound  in  her  gentle  breast 
To  follow  that  murderous  band, 
A  sleuth  hound  who  knows  no  rest. 

I  shall  go  to  Phelim  O'Neill 
With  my  sorrowful  tale  and  crave 
A  blue-bright  blade  of  Spain, 
In  the  ranks  of  his  soldiers  brave. 
And  God  grant  me  strength  to  wield 
That  shining  avenger  well  — 
When  the  Gael  shall  sweep  his  foe 
Through  the  yawning  gates  of  Hell. 

I  am  Brian  Boy  Magee ! 
And  my  creed  is  a  creed  of  hate ; 
Love,  Peace,  I  have  cast  aside  — 
But  Vengeance,  Vengeance,  I  wait ! 
Till  I  pay  back  the  fourfold  debt 
For  the  horrors  I  witnessed  there. 
When  my  brothers  moaned  in  their  blood, 
And  my  mother  swung  by  her  hair. ' ' 

These  bewildering  orgies  of  blood  were  surely 
not  inspired  by  the  mere  royalist  creed  of  their 
victims.  Cromwell  did  not  wade  to  power 
through  any  such  welter  of  blood  in  England.  He 
did  so  in  Ireland  because  the  daughters  of  the 
Gael  were  not  merely  advocates  of  the  Stuart 
cause,  but  true  champions  of  the  national  gospel. 

[137] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


But  methods  even  worse  than  these  were  re- 
sorted to,  that  a  noble  womanhood  might  taste  of 
the  most  diabolic  suffering  that  a  perverted  human 
ingenuity  could  devise  for  it.  They  were  torn  in 
thousands  from  the  bosom  of  their  native  land 
and  sent  into  exile  to  become  the  prey  of  the 
swinish  desires  of  their  Saxon  masters.  English- 
men, with  their  astute  commercial  instinct,  saw 
a  new  field  for  enterprise  in  the  ranks  of  Irish 
womanhood,  and  discussed  the  question  of  its 
manipulation  with  their  government  in  terms  of 
pounds,  shillings  and  pence.  A  systematic 
^  rounding-up '  of  Irish  ladies  resembling  the  slave 
hunts  of  the  African  wilds  became  a  favorite 
pastime  of  efl&cient  traders,  that  their  sugar  plan- 
tations in  the  West  Indies  might  have  a  bountiful 
supply  of  physical  and  moral  slaves.  Those  alone 
could  consider  themselves  immune  from  the 
hunters'  toils  whose  loyalty  to  England  had  been 
proved  to  be  unimpeachable.  Should  those  who 
were  caught  in  the  venatorial  net  decide,  after 
capture,  on  the  Anglicising  of  their  minds,  they 
had  a  fair  chance  of  escaping  the  most  degrading 
outrages,  for  such  a  perversion  was  a  most 
savoury  dish  for  the  Saxon  imperial  appetite. 
This  is  clearly  demonstrated  in  the  correspondence 
of  some  of  those  responsible  for  the  success  of  the 
slave  mart.  They  did  not  object  to  helping  to 
preserve  Irish  feminine  goodness,  provided  it 
merited  such  liberal  treatment  by  a  previous  dis- 
play of  affection  for  England.   Stimulated  by  this 


[138] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


pious  motive,  it  has  been  estimated  that  Cromwell 
sent  twenty  thousand  Irish,  of  whom  a  large  per- 
centage were  women,  into  the  Virginian  colonies 
and  the  West  Indies. 

Another  proof,  if  proof  were  needed,  of  the 
sterling  Gaelic  spirit  and  heroism  of  the  women 
of  those  days,  may  be  seen  in  the  marriage  laws 
enacted  by  the  Cromwellian  legislators.  Men 
marrying  transplantable,  in  other  words,  truly 
Irish  ladies,  ipso  facto  exposed  themselves  to  the 
peril  of  a  similar  fate.  Soldiers  of  the  Common- 
wealth were  forbidden  to  marry  Irish  ladies  unless 
they  became  Protestant,  which  at  least  in  those 
days  meant  English,  lest  the  Puritan  brand  of 
Christianity  and  patriotism  might  fade  away 
before  the  conquering  influence  of  Gaelic  fidelity 
to  God  and  country. 

So  much  for  the  evidence  of  the  Irishwoman's 
hardihood  of  soul  in  the  treatment  which  she 
received  from  those  who  looked  with  keen  dis- 
relish on  the  type  of  fortitude  she  prized.  We 
can  not  part  with  Cromwellian  days  without 
citing  one  shining  example  of  woman's  heroism. 
This  was  Rose  O'Doherty,  the  wife  of  the  great 
Owen  Roe  O'Neill.  It  was  her  entreaties  that 
were  largely  responsible  for  the  transference  of 
his  Spanish  blade  from  the  Continent  to  Ireland. 
It  was  thus  considerably  due  to  her  patriotic  heart 
that  Ireland  wooed  back  from  the  military 
glamour  of  Europe  one  of  the  ablest  soldiers  that 
her  history  can  claim.    Were  it  not  for  most 


[139] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


unlocked  for  circumstances,  the  man  whom  Eose 
persuaded  to  come  to  Ireland  would  in  all  prob- 
ability have  accomplished  the  emancipation  of  his 
people.  She  is  assuredly  deserving  of  a  dignified 
position  in  the  pantheon  of  Irish  memory.  For 
this  reason  we  like  to  believe  that  patriotic  grati- 
tude enshrined  her  name  in  the  music  of  Ireland, 
where  the  knowledge  of  its  honour  should  make 
doubly  dear  the  haunting  melody  of  Roisin  Dubh. 

With  Rose  we  leave  the  blood  and  iron  rule  of 
the  dour  Puritan  behind  us,  and  after  watching 
the  sway  of  Charles  II  pass  away,  we  find  England 
again  thrown  into  the  confusion  of  a  civil  war. 
William  of  Orange  was  invited  to  dethrone  the 
Catholic  James,  and  soon,  with  the  aid  of 
Protestant  England,  he  compelled  the  last  of  the 
Stuart  kings  to  fly  to  Ireland  for  safety.  The 
Gael  again,  with  much  more  sentimentality  and 
generosity  than  the  instinct  of  national  self- 
preservation  should  have  permitted,  took  to  his 
bosom  the  good-for-nothing  royal  fugitive  because 
of  his  racial  stock  and  faith.  In  the  struggle  that 
ensued  between  Ireland  and  the  Orange  leader, 
the  resurrected  chance  of  smiting  the  Saxon  ap- 
pealed to  Irish  women.  Many  instances  of  their 
heroism  might  be  recounted,  but  the  valour  they 
displayed  at  one  great  moment  of  that  struggle 
throws  sufficient  light  on  the  tenacious  and  long- 
suffering  patriotism  of  Irish  femininity.  That  deed 
of  heroic  calibre  the  walls  of  Limerick  witnessed. 
Every  other  fortified  city  had  succumbed  to  the 


[140] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


Williamite  attacks,  when  the  Irish  troops  deter- 
mined to  make  their  last  great  fight  at  the  city 
on  the  Shannon.  The  struggle  here  was  one  of  the 
most  bitter  of  the  whole  war.  But  no  ferocity 
could  quell  the  fortitude  of  its  inhabitants,  women 
as  well  as  men.  And  when  the  ranks  of  the  de- 
fending manhood  grew  thinner  as  the  siege  pro- 
gressed, and  the  stout  walls  were  reeling  to  ruin 
before  the  Williamite  assaults,  the  heroic  women 
of  that  city  rallied  many  a  time  their  hard-pressed 
men  and  side  by  side  with  them,  smote  with  any 
weapon  at  hand  the  onrushing  troops  of  the 
Orange  leader.  If,  finally  Limerick  yielded  to 
the  attacker,  no  one  can  say  it  was  for  lack  of 
battling  spirit  in  its  feminine  population. 

Though  the  heroines  of  this  southern  city  gazed 
on  the  battered  and  stormed  defense  works  that 
had  been  their  pride,  and  the  star  of  their  leader, 
Sarsfield,  had  set  behind  Irish  skies,  the  work 
they  had  done  gave  a  new  fascination  to  that 
appeal  of  the  Poor  Old  Woman  to  her  future 
daughters  to  abide  in  truth  and  fidelity.  How 
clamorous  and  persistent  that  appeal  was  to  be 
in  the  immediate  future,  and  how  generously 
responsive  to  its  voice  womanhood  was  to  prove 
itself,  the  eighteenth  century  can  tell. 

The  fall  of  Limerick  rang  the  death  knell  of  the 
Stuart  cause  in  Ireland,  but  its  sanguine  and  ima- 
ginative adherents  continued  to  dream  and  sing 
for  many  a  day  of  the  return  of  a  Jacobite  king, 
for  whom  a  resurrected  land  might  once  more  fly 

[141] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


to  arms.  In  these  reveries  and  songs  there  was 
entombed  an  imagery  that  could  have  risen  only 
from  the  soul  of  a  nation  where  women's  heroic 
instinct  still  lived  on  unimpaired,  and  its  arrest- 
ing nature  had  seized  the  popular  worshipping 
tendency  with  all  its  pristine  vigour.  When  the 
people  spoke  in  verse  of  their  national  destiny, 
they  saw  in  the  pitiful  plight  of  their  land  all  the 
appealing  characteristics  of  a  lady  of  ideal  beauty 
in  distress,  and  the  urgent  duty  of  the  chivalry 
of  the  nation's  manhood  coming  to  her  rescue. 
The  bards  say  visions  of  Erin  robed  in  the  delicate 
and  alluring  mysticism  of  a  symbolic  Granuaile, 
Kathleen  ni  Houlihan  or  Dark  Rosaleen,  and  made 
the  thoughts  that  arose  therefrom  a  controlling 
feature  of  eighteenth  century  poetry. 

This  wave  of  idealism  bearing  woman  on  its 
crest  swept  onwards  through  this  century  until,  in 
its  latest  years,  the  trend  of  political  developments 
gave  many  a  noble  lady  an  opportunity  of  verify- 
ing by  stern  activity  the  recitude  of  the  people 
that  had  made  her  sex  a  glorified  symbol  of  the 
national  being.  The  organization  of  the  society  of 
United  Irishmen  paved  the  way  for  the  heroic  role 
that  the  daughters  of  Ireland  played  during  the 
eventful  years  of  the  last  nineties. 

In  speaking  of  the  women  of  that  period,  we  can 
begin  with  no  nobler  individual  than  Sarah 
Curran,  whose  devotion  to  Robert  Emmet  and 
the  cause  for  which  he  stood,  has  immortalised 
her  name,  and  made  her  one  of  the  leading  types 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


of  Irish  feminine  fidelity  to  the  call  of  a  nation 
and  its  manhood.  A  romance  of  exquisite  beauty 
might  be  constructed  from  the  story  of  Miss 
Curran 's  relations  with  Robert  Emmet,  but,  how- 
ever tempting  the  subject  may  be,  we  are  com- 
pelled for  lack  of  space  to  deal  with  it  briefly  in 
this  book.  The  intensity  and  steadfastness  of  her 
life-long  devotion  to  the  man  who  loved  his 
country  before  all  things,  has  scarcely  been  sur- 
passed in  history.  It  has  been  worthily  com- 
memorated in  Moore's  immortal  musical  eulogy, 
' '  She  is  Far  from  the  Land. ' '  This  most  plaintive 
of  melodies  with  its  armoury  of  soul-searching 
weapons  tells  how  the  allegiance  to  her  patriot 
lover  never  waned,  and  no  distraction  could  dull 
the  sense  of  loss  experienced,  when  the  law  of  the 
Saxon  deprived  her  of  him.  In  foreign  climes, 
like  a  Siren  voice,  the  music  of  his  memory  sang 
her  to  death,  the  death  of  a  woman  who  died  of 
the  passion  of  a  patriot  for  a  patriot  lover.  Listen 
to  Moore  as  he  tells  the  sweet,  sad  story : 

''She  is  far  from  the  land  where  her  young  hero  sleeps, 
And  lovers  around  her  are  sighing; 
But  coldly  she  turns  from  their  gaze  and  weeps, 
For  her  heart  in  his  grave  is  lying. 

He  had  lived  for  his  love,  for  his  country  he  died. 
They  were  all  that  to  life  had  entwined  him ; 
Nor  soon  shall  the  tears  of  his  country  be  dried, 
Nor  long  will  his  love  stay  behind  him/' 

[143] 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBliAKY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


That  which  has  been  stated  in  prose  and  verse  of 
the  unflinching  loyalty  of  Miss  Curran  to  Emmet 
is  unwarrantable,  many  people  contend.  They 
believe  they  find  justification  for  the  maintenance 
of  this  attitude  towards  Miss  Curran  in  the  fact 
that  she  got  married  after  Emmet's  death.  It  is 
our  opinion  that,  if  the  circumstances  surrounding 
that  marriage  are  honestly  considered,  they  com- 
pletely exonerate  Sarah  Curran  from  the  charge 
of  infidelity  to  the  memory  of  the  Irish  patriot. 
Her  family  and  friends  persistently  urged  her,  if 
for  no  other  reason,  for  the  sake  of  her  health,  to 
wed  someone  who  would  take  a  husband's  care 
of  her.  It  was  only  after  many  entreaties  that 
she  yielded  to  their  wishes,  and  when  she  did  so, 
she  seemed  to  manifest  a  lack  of  interest  in  her 
action  that  could  only  be  accounted  for  by  the 
all-absorbing  devotion  of  her  soul  to  the  one  she 
had  lost.  Besides,  the  marriage  did  not  accom- 
plish what  her  friends  desired,  for,  despite  every 
attention  on  the  part  of  her  husband,  she  died 
soon  afterwards  in  a  foreign  clime. 

Linked  in  honour  with  the  fate  of  Emmet,  was 
the  life  of  his  servant,  Anne  Devlin,  socially 
humble,  but  kin  in  a  spirit  of  the  grandees  of  the 
soul.  She  inherited  the  daring,  ingenuity  and 
energy  of  her  uncle,  Michal  Dwyer,  the  famous 
Wicklow  outlaw,  who  for  so  long  a  time  defied  and 
outwitted  the  hunters  of  the  English  crown.  She 
actively  participated  in  the  preparations  for  the 
'98  insurrection,  helping  to  forge  the  engines  of 

[144] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


war.  And,  when  at  last  her  master  was  caught 
in  the  meshes  of  the  law,  no  torture  could  enduce 
her  to  surrender  any  secret  which  could  facilitate 
the  conviction  of  her  beloved  chief.  What  suffer- 
ings she  vanquished  to  establish  her  loyalty  to 
Dark  Rosaleen  are  told  us  in  that  most  striking 
tribute  which  Dr.  Madden  has  paid  to  her  memory. 
^^The  extraordinary  sufferings  endured,  and  the 
courage  and  fidelity  displayed  by  this  young 
woman,  have  few  parallels,  even  in  the  history  of 
those  times  which  tried  people's  souls,  and  called 
forth  the  best,  occasionally,  as  well  as  the  basest 
of  human  feelings.  She  was  tortured,  frightfully 
maltreated,  her  person  goaded  and  pricked  with 
bayonets,  hung  up  by  the  neck,  and  was  only 
spared  to  be  exposed  to  temptations,  to  be  sub- 
jected to  new  and  worse  horrors,  than  any  she 
had  undergone,  to  suffer  solitary  confinement,  to 
be  daily  tormented  with  threats  of  further  priva- 
tions, till  her  health  broke  down  and  her  mind  was 
shattered,  and  after  years  of  suffering  in  the  same 
prison  ....  she  was  turned  adrift  on  the  world 
without  a  house  to  return  to,  or  friends  or  rela- 
tions to  help  or  succour  her."*  Did  nothing  sur- 
vive but  this  solitary  passage  of  Dr.  Madden  it 
should  suffice  to  make  the  name  of  Anne  Devlin 
one  to  be  treasured  by  a  people  fashioned  in  a 
mould  of  chivalry. 

Before  dismissing  the  name  of  Emmet,  we  can 
not  afford  to  forget  the  wife  of  Thomas  Addis 


*  United  Irishmen,  p.  335. 

[145] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


Emmett,  the  brother  of  Eobert.  Gently  nurtured 
and  unaccustomed  to  the  commonplace  trials  of 
life,  she  was  fated  to  encounter  circumstances  of 
such  a  forbidding  character  as  might  be  calculated 
to  overcome  even  one  trained  in  the  school  of 
adversity.  But  they  could  not  cow  the  spirit  of 
Jane  Emmett.  She  beheld  her  happy  home  in 
Stephen's  Green  invaded  by  a  brutal  soldiery, 
and  the  menacing  steel  pointed  at  the  innocent 
children  in  their  cots,  whilst  no  domestic  privacy 
was  respected  and  her  husband  was  removed  to 
Newgate  prison.  Thither  she  pursued  him  and, 
eluding  the  vigilence  of  the  guards  she,  who  had 
never  waked  but  to  a  joyful  morning"  endured 
with  him  the  austerites  of  a  cell  but  twelve  feet 
square.  Discovered,  she  was  ordered  to  leave,  but 
her  ^^mind  was  made  up,"  and  her  womanly 
steadfastness  forced  the  prison  authorities 
to  submit  to  her  presence. 

Later  on,  Thomas  Addis  was  removed  to  Fort 
George  in  Scotland  and  here,  too,  the  heroism  of 
his  wife  brought  him  her  company  to  cheer  his 
cell.  There  she  continued  to  administer  to  her 
patriot  husband  all  the  consolation  of  a  faithful 
wife,  until  they  tasted  freedom  on  American  soil. 
In  the  land  of  the  free  she  enjoyed  the  honours 
that  her  sufferings  merited.  Having  survived  her 
husband  nineteen  years  she,  in  the  words  of  Dr. 
Madden,  'terminated  in  a  foreign  land  a  long 
career,  chequered  by  many  trials,  over  which  a 
virtuous  woman's  self-sacrificing  devotion,  the 


[146] 


Heroines  From  EUzaheth  to  the  Present  Day 

courage  and  constancy  of  a  faithful  wife,  the  force 
of  a  mother 's  love  eventually  prevailed. ' ' 

Thinking  of  the  Emmets  inevitably  directs 
one's  attention  to  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  and  that 
one  most  intimately  associated  with  him,  his  wife. 
The  part  Mrs.  Tone  had  in  the  making  of  the 
patriotic  career  of  her  husband  in  its  initial  stages 
forcibly  reminds  one  of  Rose  O'Doherty  and  her 
responsibility  for  the  services  rendered  by  Owen 
Roe  to  Ireland.  As  Rose  persuaded  the  great 
leader  of  the  seventeenth  century  to  draw  his 
sword  for  his  native  land,  so  Mrs.  Tone  trans- 
ferred the  attention  of  her  husband  from  farming 
in  the  United  States  to  sowing  the  seeds  of  insur- 
rection in  Ireland.  He  had  purchased  an  estate 
for  himself  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  that  there 
he  might  have  that  liberty  which  Ireland  could 
not  provide,  and  the  bliss  of  unperturbed  family 
life.  But,  Mrs.  Tone  preferred  the  high  and 
arduous  way  along  which  the  patriot  must  fare, 
and  with  a  sacrificial  spirit  denied  herself  the 
haven  of  peaceful  home  life  for  the  comradeship 
of  one  ever  threatened  by  the  law  that  seeks  to 
stifle  in  martyr  blood  the  deathless  voice  of  a 
nation.  Through  her,  indeed,  America  lost  a  dis- 
tinguished citizen,  but  Ireland  obtained  one 
worthy  of  her  most  select  niche  in  the  temple  of 
her  great  ones,  and  an  inspiration  for  her 
principle-loving  sons  for  all  time. 

Once  Tone  had  embarked  on  the  enterprise  that 
was  to  lead  him  through  terrible  seas  to  the  haven 


[147] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


of  death,  she  never  for  a  moment  forsook  him. 
How  intimately  she  entered  into  his  life  during 
that  period  of  grievons  anxiety  and  how  greatly 
he  prized  her  sympathy  and  aid,  we  learn  from 
the  words  of  Tone  himself.  His  great  confidence 
in  her  ability,  as  well  as  her  will  to  sustain  him 
and  his  cause,  should  be  most  convincing,  since  it 
emanates  from  a  mind  such  as  his.  Inferior 
women  may  sometimes  be  the  mates  of  great  men, 
but  when  distinguished  husbands,  after  the  inti- 
mate study  of  their  wives  that  married  life  affords 
them  attribute  to  their  partners  considerable 
credit  for  their  own  success,  the  objects  of  their 
praise  invariably  deserve  it. 

Such,  we  believe,  to  have  been  verified  in  the 
case  of  Mrs.  Tone,  for  her  masterly  husband  never 
ceases  to  eulogise  her.  There  is  nothing  more 
beautiful  in  the  world  of  domestic  literature  than 
the  compliments  which  Tone  paid  his  wife  in  the 
epistolary  exchanges  between  them.  Obsessed  with 
the  feeling  of  her  grandeur  of  character  he  pro- 
claims her  ^Hhe  light  of  my  eyes  and  the  pulse  of 
my  heart."  He  told  her  that  she  was  as  indis- 
pensable to  his  life  and  its  strength  as  the  nurtur- 
ing rays  of  the  sun  are  to  the  oak  of  the  forest, 
before  the  day  of  storm.  In  his  Autobiography  he 
said  that  in  his  work  he  always  relied  on  her  assis- 
tance and  received  it.  Women  in  general,"  he 
said,  ^^I  am  sorry  to  say  are  mercenary,  and, 
especially,  if  they  have  children,  they  are  ready 
to  make  all  sacrifices  to  their  establishment.  But 


[148] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


my  dearest  love  had  bolder  and  juster  views.  On 
every  occasion  of  my  life  I  consulted  her ;  we  had 
no  secrets  one  from  the  other,  and  I  unvaryingly 
found  her  think  and  act  with  energy  and  courage 
.  ...  If  ever  I  succeed  in  life  and  arrive  at  any- 
thing like  station  and  eminence,  I  shall  consider 
it  due  to  her  counsels  and  example."* 

Confirming  Tone's  appreciation  of  her  are  those 
of  Lucien  Bonaparte  and  Dr.  Madden.  The 
brother  of  Napoleon  when  addressing  the  French 
Directory  on  her  behalf  compared  her  to  ^Hhose 
women  of  Sparta,  who  on  the  return  of  their 
countrymen  from  battle,  when,  with  anxious  looks, 
they  ran  over  the  ranks,  and  missed  among  them 
their  sons,  their  husbands  and  their  brothers, 
exclaimed:  ^^He  died  for  his  country;  he  died  for 
the  republic!"  We  cannot  refrain  from  giving 
the  bouquet  of  praise  with  which  Dr.  Madden  has 
adorned  her  memory.  ^^She  was  a  faithful,  noble- 
minded,  true-hearted  and  generous  woman,"  he 
states,  utterly  divested  of  selfishness,  ready  to 
make  any  sacrifices,  and  endure  any  suffering  for 
her  husband,  her  children  and  her  country. 
Always  cheerful,  trustful  and  hopeful  in  her  hus- 
band's destiny,  and  strongly  impressed  with  the 
goodness  of  his  heart,  and  the  brilliancy  of  his 
talents,  and  his  devotedness  to  his  cause,  she  was 
the  solace  of  his  life,  the  never-failing  comfort  of 
it,  the  courageous  partner  and  partaker  of  his 
trials  in  adversity,  and  the  support  of  his  weari- 


*  Autobiography,  p.  66. 

[149] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


ness  of  mind  in  all  his  struggles,  labours  and. 
embarassments. 

In  the  noble  company  to  which  Mrs.  Tone 
belonged  we  must  also  include  Lady  Lucy 
Fitzgerald,  the  sister  of  Lord  Edward.  Akin  to 
her  brother  in  many  aspects  of  temperament,  she 
was  like  him,  too,  in  the  fervotir  of  her  devotion 
to  the  Dear  Dark  Head.  She  loved  the  cause  he 
advocated,  and  she  loved  him  especially  because 
of  his  loyalty  to  that  cause.  Two  quotations  from 
her  letters  are  sufficient  to  convey  to  the  reader 
the  spirit  that  was  her's.  They  are  shot  through 
and  through  with  pride  of  race,  admiration  of  the 
patriotic  passion  of  her  brother,  a  courage  that 
quailed  before  no  foe  of  her  land,  and  an  immov- 
able confidence  in  the  ability  of  her  nation  to 
march  with  dignity  to  freedom.  ^  *  Irishmen, ' '  she 
exclaims,  ....  ^4t  is  Edward  Fitzgerald ^s  sister 
who  addresses  you:  It  is  a  woman,  but  that 
woman  is  his  sister:  she  would  therefore  die  for 
you  as  he  did.  I  don't  mean  to  remind  you  of 
what  he  did  for  you  ....  He  was  a  Paddy  and  no 
more;  he  desired  no  other  title  than  this.  He 
never  deserted  you  —  will  you  desert  yourselves  ? 
....  Will  you  forget  the  title  which  it  is  still  in 
your  power  to  ennoble?  ....  Will  you  make  it 
the  scoff  of  your  triumphant  enemies,  while  'tis 
in  your  power  to  raise  it  beyond  all  other  glory 
to  immortality?  Yes,  this  is  the  moment,  the 
precious  moment  which  must  either  stamp  mth 

Op.  Cit.  vol.  m.  p.  252. 

[150] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


infamy  the  name  of  Irishmen  and  denote  you 
forever  wretched  ....  or  raise  the  Paddies  to 
the  consequence  which  they  deserve,  and  which 
England  shall  no  longer  with-hold,  to  happiness, 
freedom,  glory.''  Again  she  tells  in  trumpet 
tones  of  the  perfect  mingling  of  the  waters  of 
Edward's  love  and  her's,  as  they  rushed  ever 
onward  to  their  ocean  receptacle,  Ireland.  In 
her  ^^he  met  a  soul,  twin  to  his  own"  because  each 
breathed  and  loved  alike  their  object,  Ireland; 
Ireland,  where  each  had  first  drawn  breath  — 
Ireland,  greater  in  her  misfortunes,  in  her  wrongs 
than  the  most  favoured  country  of  the  earth  .... 
Ireland,  whom  neither  falsehood  could  entice  nor 
interest  bribe  to  apostacy,  suffering  through  suc- 
cessive ages  from  the  oppression  of  a  nation 
inferior  to  Herself  in  all  but  in  one  of  the  adven- 
titious circumstances  of  fortune." 

Just  as  heroic  as  Lady  Lucy  was  Mary  Anne, 
the  sister  of  Henry  Joy  McCracken.  In  fact,  if 
we  wanted  to  be  skeptical  of  any  evidence  of 
courage  short  of  positive  acts,  we  should  be 
inclined  to  make  her  far  superior  in  fortitude  to 
the  sister  of  the  Geraldine.  When  the  cause  which 
was  dear  to  the  heart  of  Henry  met  with  failure 
in  Antrim,  she  was  with  him  to  keep  him  strong 
in  an  atmosphere  of  defeat,  and  when  the  last 
grim  circumstances  attending  his  exit  from  mortal 
life  became  a  reality,  she  failed  not  to  be  with  him 
until  the  very  end.  We  will  let  herself  tell  in 
her  unostentatious  way  how  her  magnificent 

[151] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


sisterly  love  poured  honey  into  the  vinegar  and 
gall  of  poor  Henry's  final  progress  towards  his 
calvary.  About  five  p.  m.,  he  was  ordered  to  the 
place  of  execution,  the  old  market-house,  the 
ground  of  which  had  been  given  to  the  town  by 
his  great,  great  grandfather.  I  took  his  arm,  and 
we  walked  together  to  the  place  of  execution,  where 
I  was  told  it  was  the  general's  orders  that  I  should 
leave  him,  which  I  peremptorily  refused.  Harry 
begged  I  would  go.  Clasping  my  hands  around 
him  (I  did  not  weep  till  then)  I  said  I  could  bear 
anything  but  leaving  him.  Three  times  he  kissed 
me,  and  entreated  I  would  go ;  and  looking  around 
to  recognise  some  friend  to  put  me  in  charge  of, 
he  beckoned  to  a  Mr.  Boyd,  and  said,  ^He  will  take 
charge  of  you.'  Mr.  Boyd  stepped  forward;  and 
fearing  my  further  refusal  would  disturb  the  last 
moments  of  my  dearest  brother,  I  suffered  myself 
to  be  led  away."  These  simple  words  of  Mary 
Anne,  and  the  act  to  which  they  testified,  establish 
her  beyond  all  doubt  a  queen  in  the  realm  of 
heroism.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Madden  should  say 
of  her  that  her  name  ^^has  become  associated  in 
the  North  with  that  of  her  beloved  brother.  The 
recollection  of  every  act  of  his  seems  to  have  been 
stored  up  in  her  mind,  as  if  she  felt  the  charge 
of  his  reputation  had  been  committed  to  her 
especial  care.  In  that  attachment  there  are  traits 
to  be  noticed  indicative  not  only  of  singleness  of 
hearts  and  benevolence  of  disposition,  but  of  a 
noble  spirit  of  heroism,  strikingly  displayed  in  the 


[152] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 

performance  of  perilous  duties,  of  services  ren- 
dered at  the  hazard  of  life,  at  great  pecuniary 
sacrifice,  not  only  to  that  dear  brother,  but  at  a 
later  period  to  his  faithful  friend,  the  unfortunate 
Thomas  Russell." 

The  nobility  of  soul  that  was  Miss  McCracken's 
was  typical  of  that  of  many  another  sister,  wife 
and  mother  of  these  trying  times.  With  these, 
we  are  compelled  to  deal  more  briefly,  because  a 
certain  needless  repetition  would  be  involved  in 
the  lengthy  recital  of  their  activities,  for  the  roads 
of  heroic  endeavor  they  traversed  were  very  like 
in  nature  to  that  trodden  by  the  sister  of  Mc- 
Cracken.  There  was  Julia  Sheares,  the  sister  of 
John  and  Henry,  whose  unremitting  solicitude  for 
her  brother's  welfare  was  lauded  in  the  last  letter 
of  one  of  them  to  her.  There  was  the  sister  of 
Myles  Byrnes,  who,  when  the  savagery  of  the 
soldiery  drove  the  people  of  Wexford  to  the 
mountains,  was  the  most  prominent  of  a  large 
number  of  women  who  braved  the  perils  of  the 
hills  to  keep  their  kin  informed  of  the  movements 
of  the  troops.  Of  the  wife  of  Samuel  Neilson, 
Mrs.  Concannon  has  said  that  no  woman  of  '98 
^^has  suffered  so  much,"  yet,  when  she  came  to 
the  end  of  her  sorrowful  life  she  deserved  this 
epitaph  on  her  tomb :  ^  ^  a  woman  who  was  an  orna- 
ment to  her  sex;  who  fulfilled  in  the  most  exemp- 
lary manner,  the  duties  of  a  daughter,  wife  and 
mother."  What  Irishman  cannot  feel  proud  of 
the  patriotic  fervour  of  the  mother   of  the 

[153] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


Teelings  ?  She  prided  in  her  noble  ancestry,  and 
the  gallant  actions  of  some  of  them  that  were  so 
creditable  to  their  rank.  She  knew  all  the  elegance 
and  happiness  of  a  cultured  home,  and  yet  she 
did  not  hesitate  to  offer  on  the  altar  of  patriotism 
the  two  sons,  who  were  the  very  light  of  her  life. 
Who  that  loves  liberty,  and  feels  the  thrill  of  that 
enchantment  that  comes  from  the  shackled  beauty 
of  a  national  spirit  that  would  feign,  with  un- 
fettered pinions,  wing  its  way  in  an  atmosphere  of 
its  own  creation,  can  think  without  admiration  of 
Mrs.  Michael  O'Dwyer,  who  left  ignoble  security 
for  the  perils  of  that  defiant  freedom  on  the  moun- 
tains of  Wicklow,  with  her  noted  outlaw  husband? 
Here  she  stood  by  him  when  the  bloodhounds  of 
England  were  hot  on  his  trail,  and  when  at  last 
he  was  taken  and  sent  into  exile  she  bore  with  him 
the  sorrows  of  his  prison  ship,  and  gave  him, 
during  the  few  years  of  life  that  remained  to  him 
on  foreign  soil,  the  solace  of  a  brave  woman's 
care.  Two  other  women,  not  as  well  known  as 
those  whom  we  have  already  placed  to  the  credit 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  girt  round  with  as 
deathless  a  valour  as  any  of  them,  were  Rose 
Hope  and  Betsey  Gray.  Rose,  who  was  the  mfe 
of  James  Hope,  was  a  valuable  aid  to  her  husband 
whenever  his  patriotic  work  demanded  the  ser- 
vices of  a  courageous  and  resourceful  supporter. 
Before  the  rebellion  in  the  North,  she  did  good 
work  by  helping  to  get  arms  and  ammunition  to 
the  United  Irishmen,  whilst  apparently  plying  the 


[154] 


Heroines  From  Elkabetk  to  the  Present  Day 


innocent  business  of  a  marketer.  She  did  the  same 
in  the  old  city  on  the  Liffey,  though  her  efforts 
were  attended  by  some  hairbreath  escapes.  Many 
of  her  other  adventures,  telling  of  the  dauntless 
soul  that  lived  in  this  daughter  of  Erin,  might 
be  recounted.  To  the  North,  too,  belonged  Betsey 
Gray,  for  she  came  from  the  vicinity  of  Bangor. 
She,  not  content  with  being  a  purveyor  of  am- 
munition,  sought  the  more  satisfactory  work  of 
helping  to  use  it  on  the  Saxon.  When  the  men  of 
Do^^^l  came  out  to  do  battle  in  '98,  she  found  a 
place  in  their  ranks.  But  poor  Betsey,  with  her 
brother  and  sweetheart,  were  overpowered  by  a 
party  of  yeomen  before  they  could  do  much  for 
their  country.  She  received,  however,  the  death 
she  longed  for,  and  her  spirit  must  feel  joyful  if 
it  knows  that  her  honourable  end  has  kept  her 
memory  green  in  the  popular  fancy  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  local  folk  love  to  picture  her  clad 
in  green,  and,  mounted  on  her  charger  as,  with 
glistening  blade,  she  smote  the  foe  of  her  land. 
With  Betsy  we  say  farewell  to  the  heroines  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  threads  of  golden 
story  they  have  woven  into  the  fabric  of  their 
country's  history. 

In  the  wake  of  the  death  blow  that  was  given  to 
the  dream  of  '98  came  the  destruction  of  Irish  leg- 
islative independence.  Thus  English  statesmen 
intended  to  consign  to  a  grave  that  harboured  no 
ray  of  hope  that  sanguine  idealism  in  which  Irish 
strivings  of  centuries  for  national  emancipation 

[155] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


had  been  rooted.  They  were  destined,  as  usual, 
to  be  disillusioned.  Ireland,  ever  fruitful  of 
leadership,  did  not  grow  sterile  now.  She  soon 
produced  O'Connell,  who  plumbed  the  depths  of 
national  self-consciousness,  and  reawakened  the 
dormant  appetite  for  freedom.  That  energy 
which  the  Emancipator  stirred  and  loosed  was 
destined  to  know  but  little  rest,  until  it  brought 
those  ideals  of  liberty  from  which  it  sprang  so 
close  to  realisation  as  they  are  to-day. 

Pursuing  that  role  which  women  played  in  this 
resurgent  activity  for  liberty,  we  find  nothing  that 
can  justify  production  in  this  book,  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  By  this, 
we  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  they  slumbered  dur- 
ing the  years  between  the  Union  and  this  period 
without  feeling  the  throb  of  the  reinvigorated 
national  impulse.  This  they  certainly  did,  for  the 
great  women  of  the  second  generation  of  this 
century  would  have  been  an  impossibility,  had  not 
their  mothers,  who  linked  them  with  the  days  of 
'98  been  admirers  of  the  heroism  furnished  by  the 
ladies  of  that  time.  However,  until  the  spirit  of 
Young  Ireland  manifested  itself,  the  patriotic 
activity  of  women  was  almost  completely  unosten- 
tatious, and  the  great  work  it  accomplished  was 
within  the  quiet  purlieus  of  the  home. 

"With  Catholic  Emancipation  a  reality,  and 
Eepeal  of  the  Union  almost  an  accomplished  fact, 
the  nation,  sniffing  so  much  of  the  air  of  liberty 
became  restless,  until  it  could  enjoy  it  without 


[156] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


check  or  limit.  The  Young  Ireland  Movement, 
having  for  its  object  no  mere  legislative  freedom 
but  the  absolute  right  of  the  Irish  people  to  regu- 
late every  department  of  their  life  as  they  thought 
best,  gripped  the  country.  Into  this  movement, 
the  women  of  the  country  leaped  with  an  eager- 
ness and  courage  which  would  do  justice  to  the 
patriotic  instinct  of  the  daughters  of  Ireland,  in 
the  most  thrilling  days  of  the  past. 

Amongst  these  Young  Ireland  women  of  action 
there  were  two  who  deserve  space  for  individual 
attention,  ^Eva'  and  ^Speranza'  of  the  ^Nation.' 
What  ^Eva'  preached  in  the  newspapers  of  Young 
Ireland,  fearlessness  and  patriotic  passion,  she 
clearly  manifested  in  her  own  actions.  Who  that 
has  heard  of  it  can  forget  that  memorable  scene 
when,  in  a  moment  of  supreme  trial,  she  surren- 
dered him  who  was  dearest  to  her,  that  Dark 
Eosaleen,  whose  claims  on  his  atfection  she 
regarded  as  immeasureably  more  sacred  than 
hers,  might  suffer  no  injury.  As  her  sweetheart, 
Kevin  O'Doherty,  stood  on  the  dock  charged  with 
the  high  crime  of  fealty  to  his  mystic  lover,  ^Eva* 
was  close  beside  him  to  confirm  his  loyalty  to  that 
passion.  She  told  him  before  a  crowded  court- 
house, to  proclaim  his  patriotism  like  a  man,  and 
take  whatever  penalty  such  a  noble  confession 
entailed.  Kevin  did  so,  and  for  ten  long  years  in 
prison  the  silver  sound  of  her  heroic  words,  ^^be 
thou  faithful,  I'll  wait,''  kept  chiming  a  message 
of  hope  in  his  heart,  until  the  day  of  his  liberation. 

[157] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


He  was  not  disappointed  by  ^Eva'  for  she  had 
waited,  and  gave  him  the  reward  of  her  wedded 
aifection  for  the  love  that  had  wedded  his  soul  to 
Ireland. 

In  the  sisterhood  pledged  to  patriotic  endeavor, 
^Eva'  had  a  worthy  comrade  in  ^Speranza.' 
Crowned  with  beauty,  youth  and  intellectuality, 
she  was  a  brilliant  luminary  in  the  social  firma- 
ment of  Dublin,  but  no  empty  glamour  of  the 
drawing-room  could  divorce  her  from  the  great 
service  to  which  she  was  pledged. 

From  her  pen  a  message  of  courage  and  trutli 
challenging  every  knavish  foe  of  her  land  ever 
leaped  forth.  With  truth  as  with  a  sword  of  light 
she  bade  her  countrymen 

''Go  war  against  evil  and  sin, 

'Gainst  the  falsehood  and  meanness  and  seeming 

That  stifle  the  true  life  within. 

Your  bonds  are  the  bonds  of  the  soul, 

Strike  them  off  and  you  spring  to  the  goal.'' 

What  her  pen  espoused  she  never  feared  to 
support  in  her  own  person.  The  most  remarkable 
occasion  on  which  she  showed  that  she  could 
practice  what  she  preached  was  at  the  trial  of 
Gavan  Duffy.  We  will  let  A.  M.  Sullivan  describe 
her  action  in  his  enthusiastic  and  dramatic  way. 
^^When  the  struggle  was  over,  and  Gavan  Duffy 
was  on  trial  for  high  treason  among  the  articles 
read  against  him  was  one  from  the  suppressed 
number  of  the  Nation,  entitled  ^Macta  Alea  Est." 

[158] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


It  was  without  example  as  a  revolutionary  appeal. 
Exquisitely  beautiful  as  a  piece  of  writing  it 
glowed  with  fiery  incentive.  It  was  in  fact  a  prose 
poem,  a  wild  war  song,  in  which  Ireland  was 
called  upon  that  day  in  the  face  of  earth  and 
Heaven  to  invoke  the  ultima  ratio  of  oppressed 
nations.  The  Attornej^-General  read  the  article 
amidst  breathless  silence.  At  its  close  there  was 
a  murmur  of  emotion  in  the  densely-crowded 
court,  when  suddenly  a  cry  from  the  ladies'  gal- 
lery startled  everyone.  '^I  am  the  culprit  if  crime 
it  be,"  was  spoken  in  a  woman's  voice.  It  was 
the  voice  of  queenly  ^Speranza.'  ''  The  woman 
that  uttered  those  words  was  certainly  one  who 
would  not  be  a  failure  even  if  she  had  to  grapple 
with  more  stern  fact. 

The  armed  efforts  of  the  Young  Irelanders 
proved  abortive  but  the  national  atmosphere 
remained  charged  with  the  lightnings  of  rebellion 
until  it  assumed  a  most  menacing  aspect  a  few 
years  later.  The  Fenians  believed  in  the  use  of 
the  same  weapons  as  Young  Ireland.  They  were 
ready  like  their  mythical  ancestors  of  old  to  court 
almost  certain  death  in  battle  against  the  armed 
might  of  England.  Amongst  them  there  were  to 
be  found  members  of  the  gentle  sex  who  were  as 
brave  as  the  bravest  of  their  manhood.  Typically 
such  was  Ellen  O'Leary,  the  sister  of  the  lion- 
hearted  John,  who  took  almost  as  intimate  and 
fearless  a  part  in  the  Fenian  conspiracy  as  her 
dauntless  brother.  In  this  work  she  was  as  clever 


[159] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

as  she  was  energetic.  One  of  the  deeds  that  prove 
her  ingenuity  was  the  efficient  part  she  took  in  the 
rescue  of  Stephens  from  prison.  She  is  indeed 
worthy  of  being  forever  associated  in  the  memory 
of  her  countrymen  with  the  name  of  her  patriot 
brother. 

The  Fenians'  plans  for  an  uprising  were  nipped 
in  the  bud  by  the  arrest  of  many  of  the  leaders 
and  as  a  result  the  armed  effort  that  was  made  to 
attack  the  forces  of  the  Crown  was  absolutely 
futile.  Their  complete  failure  brought  the  coun- 
try back  to  parliamentary  methods  of  seeking 
redress  for  its  grievances  until  it  chanced  upon 
the  able  leadership  of  Charles  Stuart  Pamell. 
When  in  the  nineties  ''the  Chief  as  the  people 
liked  to  call  him  had  levelled  the  heaviest  artillery 
of  statesmanship  he  could  devise  at  the  fortress 
of  Saxon  domination  some  of  the  best  purveyors 
of  ammunition  that  he  had  were  to  be  found 
amongst  the  women  of  his  day.  Chief  of  these 
were  his  sisters  Fanny  and  Anne. 

Anyone  who  has  read  what  Fanny  ParnelPs 
pen  produced  cannot  fail  to  see  what  intense 
sympathy  there  was  in  her  heart  for  the  agonis- 
ing heart  of  Ireland.  Pondering  on  that  calvary 
of  her  nation,  she  contributed  most  substantially 
to  that  avalanche  of  patriotic  emotion  that  was 
bearing  down  upon  those  who  had  violated  the 
rights  of  a  sovereign  people.  John  Boyle  0  'Reilly 
speaking  of  the  manner  in  which  she  championed 
through  her  Land  League  Songs  the  rights  of  an 

[i6o] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


ancient  race  says  that  the  sweeping  messages  of 
her  songful  utterances  were  ' '  crushed  out  like  the 
sweet  life  of  a  bruised  flower/'  They  were  ^^the 
very  cry  of  a  race. ' '  In  this  relentless  crusade  of 
pen  and  ink  she  invaded  even  America  where 
through  the  medium  of  the  Boston  Pilot  she  won 
the  sympathy  of  many  a  heart  for  her  long- 
suffering  land.  The  ringing  command  of  her 
^^Hold  the  Han^est"  entered  a  Saxon  court  of 
justice  where  a  judge  had  it  read  at  a  state  trial 
to  show  what  a  menace  it  voiced  for  English 
power.   One  glorious  verse  of  it  we  give. 

"Oh!  by  the  God  who  made  us  all  — 

The  seignior  and  the  serf  — 

Rise  up !  and  swear  this  day  to  hold 

Your  own  green  Irish  turf; 

Rise  up !  and  plant  your  feet  as  men 

Where  now  you  crawl  as  slaves, 

And  make  your  harvest  fields  your  camps, 

Or  make  of  them  your  grave." 

It  is  little  wonder  that  Davitt  called  it 
Marseillaise"  of  the  Irish  peasant,  the  trumpet 
call  of  the  League  to  the  Celtic  people  to  remem- 
ber the  hideous  crimes  of  an  odious  system,  and 
with  trust  in  God's  eternal  justice  to  rise  and  give 
battle  to  the  death  against  the  imported  curse  of 
their  country  and  their  homes. "  ^ 

As  an  organiser  she  displayed  as  much  capacity 
for  patriotic  work  as  in  the  printed  page.  It  was 
she  who  initiated  the  movement  for  the  creation 


*  The  Fall  of  Feudalism,  p.  292. 

[i6i] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

of  a  Ladies'  Land  League.  Despite  the  frowns 
of  many  skeptics  and  ultra-conservatives  who 
should  be  friendly  she  made  a  success  of  this 
enterprise.  She  made  of  this  society  an  engine 
of  war  that  forced  Buckshot  Forster,  one  of  the 
worst  enemies  of  the  oppressed  tenant-farmers, 
to  retreat  to  his  native  England. 

With  Fanny  went  hand  in  hand  her  fighting 
sister  Anne.  The  latter  owned  a  warrior  fire  that 
could  not  be  extinguished  and  a  strength  of  will 
that  might  have  adorned  the  personality  of  the 
most  masculine  of  men.  She  fought  ^^with  all 
her  brother's  intense  application  to  any  one  thing 
at  a  time,  and  with  more  than  even  his  resolute- 
ness of  purpose  in  many  enterprises  that  might 
enlist  her  interest  and  advocacy,  together  with  a 
thorough  revolutionary  spirit.  *  *  To  have  out- 
Pamelled  Parnell  in  this  the  ruling  feature  of  his 
character  was  an  achievement  of  which  the  great- 
est of  women  might  be  pardonably  proud. 

Unfortunate  circumstances  deprived  Ireland  of 
Parnell  ere  he  could  win  a  striking  victory  for 
her.  Political  strife  became  the  thing  of  the  hour 
till  John  Redmond  was  permitted  without  opposi- 
tion to  take  the  dead  ^^Chief 's''  place.  Under  the 
new  leadership  many  good  concessions  were  made 
to  the  national  demands.  In  the  meantime,  how- 
ever, a  new  idea  was  gradually  taking  hold  of  the 
country.  That  idea  was  Sinn  Fein,  a  system  of 
political  philosophy  which  maintained  that  the 


*  Davitt.  Op.  Cit,  p.  300. 

[162] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 

time  was  ripe  for  Irishmen  to  discard  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Westminster  and  win  national  freedom 
by  a  self-reliant  development  of  Ireland  itself. 
Young  Ireland  with  startling  rapidity  became 
enamoured  of  the  new  policy  and  in  the  Battle 
of  Dublin  in  1916  proved  its  willingness  to  die  for 
an  Irish  Republic  which  the  principle  of  ' '  Ireland 
for  the  Irish''  demanded. 

This  brings  us  to  the  latest  phase  of  Irish 
feminine  heroism.  The  most  commonplace  knowl- 
edge of  the  fight  of  Easter  Week  must  convince 
even  the  most  inimical  that  Irish  women  are  yet 
true  to  the  spirit  of  their  sisters  of  the  dead  cen- 
turies. Everything  that  a  man  could  do  must  be 
placed  to  the  credit  of  heroic  daughters  of  Ireland 
during  that  greatest  week  that  Dublin  ever  knew. 
Their  services  to  their  brothers  in  arms  embraced 
every  department  of  war  work  from  the  man- 
ipulation of  a  rifle  to  the  merciful  labours  of  Red 
Cross  nurses.  No  better  picture  of  their  activity 
has  yet  been  presented  than  that  given  by  an 
English  Red  Cross  nurse  whose  testimony  has 
every  right  to  be  regarded  as  impartial.  ^^On 
Easter  Sunday"  she  says,  which  was  the  day 
first  appointed  for  the  Volunteers'  manoeuvres, 
and  for  which  all  the  men  were  mobilised  the 
women  in  the  movement  were  also  mobilised  and 
ordered  to  bring  rations  for  a  certain  period.  It 
was  only  at  the  last  moment  and  for  sufficiently 
dramatic  reasons  that  the  mobilisation  of  the  men 
and  women  was  cancelled.    These  Irish  women 

[163] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


who  did  their  work  with  a  cool  and  reckless  cour- 
age unsurpassed  by  any  man,  were  in  the  firing 
line  from  the  first  to  the  last  day  of  the  rebellion. 
There  were  women  of  all  ranks  from  titled  ladies 
to  shop  assistants,  and  they  worked  on  terms  of 
easy  equality,  caring  nothing,  apparently,  but  for 
the  success  of  the  movement.  Many  of  the  women 
were  snipers,  and  both  in  the  Post  Office  and  in  the 
Imperial  Hotel,  the  present  writer,  who  was  a 
Red  Cross  nurse,  saw  women  on  guard  with  rifles 
relieving  worn  out  volunteers.  Cumann  na  mbam 
girls  did  practically  all  the  despatch  carrying; 

some  of  them  were  killed  They  did  Red 

Cross  work  —  I  saw  them  going  out  under  the 
deadliest  fire  to  bring  in  wounded  volunteers.  They 
cooked,  catered  and  brought  in  supplies;  they 
took  food  to  men  under  fire  at  barricades;  tliey 
visited  every  volunteer's  home  to  tell  his  people 
of  his  progress.  I  never  imagined  that  such  an 
organisation  of  determined  fighting  women  could 
exist  in  the  British  Isles.  These  women  could 
throw  hand  grenades,  they  understood  the  use  of 
bombs;  in  fact  they  seemed  to  understand  as  much 
of  the  business  of  warfare  as  their  men.''  * 

Such  heroism  would  be  a  worthy  theme  for  a 
special  volume.  Here,  however,  we  cannot  afford 
to  be  individualistic  in  our  treatment  of  these 
ladies,  with  the  exception  of  a  few.  Those  we 
propose  to  favour  thus  are  the  Countess 
Markievicz  and  the  mother  of  the  two  Pearses. 


*  The  New  York  Sun.  May  22nd. 

[r64] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


The  Countess  being  the  only  woman  in  charge 
of  a  fighting  unit  and  her  name  having  won  inter- 
national recognition  we  think  that  she  is  entitled 
to  individual  treatment  here.  To  gain  a  proper 
idea  of  the  debt  of  honour  that  her  country  owes 
her  we  must  call  to  mind  what  barriers  she  had 
to  burst  through  in  earlier  days  before  she  won 
her  way  to  an  understanding  of  the  rights  of 
Irish  nationhood.  She  was  born  within  a  circle 
which  the  clear  light  of  Dark  Rosaleen's  counten- 
ance could  never  penetrate.  But  the  honesty  of 
her  heart  was  too  powerful  for  these  instruments 
of  darkness  and  it  emancipated  her  from  their 
control  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  her  one  of 
the  most  ardent  supporters  of  Irish  Republican 
liberty. 

When  the  blood-test  of  this  revived  republican- 
ism was  in  operation  in  1916  she  was  in  the  midst 
of  the  ordeal  with  her  brave  Fianna  or  Irish  Boy 
Scouts.  These  she  had  founded  years  before  and 
had  fashioned  them  into  a  splendidly  organised 
body  of  young  martial  spirits  who  treasured  a 
career  of  arms  as  the  boy  Cuchulainn  loved  it  of 
old.  Leading  these  throughout  the  fray  she 
evinced  a  marked  sense  of  leadership  coupled  with 
a  courage  that  nothing  could  daunt.  We  can  not 
refrain  here  from  giving  the  magnificent  tribute 
bestowed  on  her  by  Sidney  Gitford  when  her  fight 
had  been  fought  and  lost.  The  consequent  forti- 
tude and  nobility  to  which  he  bears  testimony 
exceeded  those  of  the  hour  of  battle  for  now  the 

[165] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


wild  storm  of  strife  had  ceased,  her  fight-fervour 
had  abated  and  she  was  face  to  face  with  the  calm 
reality  of  death.  We  will  let  Gifford  tell  how  she 
faced  this  new  situation.  ^^She  was  sentenced  to 
death  by  court-martial  but  the  sentence  was 
altered  to  imprsionment  for  life.  It  is  reported 
that  she  made  a  vigorous  protest  when  the  change 
of  sentence  was  announced.  She  had  fought  side 
by  side  with  the  fifteen  men  who  were  shot.  She 
would  have  shared  in  their  glory  if  they  had  been 
successful.  She  longed  to  share  their  fate,  to  die 
rather  than  suffer  the  living  death  of  imprison- 
ment for  life.  To  Countess  Markievicz,  proud- 
spirited, fiery,  accustomed  all  her  days  to  un- 
trammelled freedom,  the  very  embodiment  of  both 
mental  and  physical  energy,  imprisonment  for 
life  is  a  far  more  bitter  fate  than  death  itself."  ^ 
It  is  little  wonder  that  such  heroism  drew  George 
Russell  from  his  cooperative  farming  schemes 
and  the  mysteries  of  the  spheres  to  sing  the  glories 
of  the  Countess  and  the  women  of  the  land  she 
represented. 

Here's  to  the  women  of  our  blood 
Stood  by  them  in  the  fiery  hour, 
Rapt  lest  some  weakness  in  their  mood 
Rob  manhood  of  a  single  power  — 
You,  brave  as  such  a  hope  forlorn, 
Who  smiled  through  crack  of  shot  and  shell, 
Though  the  world  look  on  you  with  scorn. 
Here's  to  you,  Constance,  in  your  cell/' 


*  The  glories  of  Ireland,  ed.  Maurice  Joyce.  Quotation,  pp.  359-60. 

[i66] 


Heroines  From  Elizabeth  to  the  Present  Day 


With  the  Countess  we  wish  to  associate  in  hon- 
ourable mention  the  mother  of  the  two  Pearses, 
Patrick  and  William.  She  took  no  positive  part 
in  the  rebellion  but  she  gave  to  it  all  that  her 
heart  held  dearest,  her  two  magnificent  sons.  She 
gave  to  God  and  Ireland  two  of  the  most  beautiful 
characters  that  her  land  had  ever  known  and  she 
gave  them  with  the  unw^avering  faith  that  she 
was  only  doing  her  duty.  That  such  was  her  sub- 
lime creed  we  know  from  the  words  she  uttered 
at  her  last  sad  interview  with  her  son,  Willie, 
after  Padraic  had  gone  the  martyr's  way.  Her 
motherly  heart,  because  it  was  so  motherly  and 
good,  was  weighted  with  a  most  bitter  natural 
sorrow,  yet  turning  to  her  son  she  said:  Thank 
God  they  are  taking  you.  When  I  heard  they  had 
taken  Pat  I  hoped  you,  too,  would  go  because  I 
would  rather  that  the  two  go  than  leave  one  be- 
hind to  bear  the  sorrow.  I  am  more  content  to 
bear  the  sorrow  to  the  end  of  my  life  when  I 
know  that  as  you  were  always  together  in  child- 
hood, in  boyhood  and  manhood,  you  are  united 
together  in  death. ' '  Then  turning  to  the  English 
officer  present  she  said:  ^^You  have  taken  my 
darling  son  Padraic  and  now  you  are  about  to  take 
my  second  and  only  remaining  son  Willie.  Gladly 
do  I  offer  them  to  die  for  Jesus  and  for  Ireland." 
Well,  indeed,  did  she  prove  herself  to  be  that  ideal 
patriot  mother  on  whose  lips  Padraic  put  the 
sacred  and  sacrificial  words : 

[1^7] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

^'I  do  not  grudge  them:  Lord,  I  do  not  grudge 
My  two  strong  sons  that  I  have  seen  go  out 
To  break  their  strength  and  die,  they  and  a  few, 
In  bloody  protest  for  a  glorious  thing. 
They  shall  be  spoken  of  among  their  people. 
The  generations  shall  remember  them. 
And  call  them  blessed ; 

But  I  will  speak  their  names  to  my  own  heart 
In  the  long  nights ; 

The  little  names  that  were  familiar  once 

Round  my  dead  hearth. 

Lord,  thou  art  hard  on  mothers: 

We  suffer  in  their  coming  and  their  going ; 

And  though  I  grudge  them  not,  I  weary,  weary 

Of  the  long  sorrow^  —  And  yet  I  have  my  joy : 

My  sons  were  faithful  and  they  fought/' 

With  the  mother  of  the  Pearses  we  say  fare- 
well to  the  women  of  action  whose  deeds  have 
adorned  the  story  of  Ireland.  We  see  in  her,  one 
of  the  latest  heroic  products  of  the  land,  a 
guarantee  of  the  indestructibility  of  Irish  nation- 
hood. Whilst  a  nation  possesses  such  mothers 
as  she  it  is  endowed  with  a  nationalising  alchemy 
that  can  never  cease  to  make  soldiers  of  men 
who  shall  not  hesitate  to  seek  honour  on  the 
death-haunted  battle-field  whilst  the  Gael  has  life 
and  consciousness. 


[i68] 


CHAPTER  X 


Womanly  Morality  and  Honour  from  the 
Sixteenth  Century  Onwards 

WE  HAVE  seen  what  a  record  of  noble 
living  in  the  domestic  sense  of  the  words 
had  been  the  property  of  Irish  women 
until  the  destruction  of  that  polity  at  the  close 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  which  had  protected 
piety  and  had  encouraged  so  many  of  those  vir- 
tues which  are  the  prime  ornament  of  family  life. 
We  have  likewise  observed  the  steadfastness 
with  which  since  the  collapse  of  that  common- 
wealth Gaelic  feminity  had  aided  in  preserving 
the  national  soul  of  Ireland.  We  think  it  will  be 
interesting  to  consider,  in  this  chapter,  how 
faithfully  the  women  of  Ireland  adhered  to  the 
tradition  of  exalted  living  handed  down  to  them 
until  the  sixteenth  century,  for  in  the  quietude 
that  hovers  round  the  hearth  they  were  more 
fundamentally  potent  in  shaping  the  destiny  of 
the  nation  than  in  the  council  chamber,  or  in  the 
theatre  of  heroic  deeds. 

As  the  family  is,  so  to  a  large  extent  the  nation 
must  be,  in  patriotism  and  general  self-respect. 
That  the  Irish  home  must  have  been  a  nursery 
of  morality  and  civic  virtue  in  the  seventeenth 

[169] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


century,  we  know  from  the  fact  of  the  large  fam- 
ilies it  reared,  and  the  piety  that  was  the  orna- 
ment of  its  women.  To  these  two  features  of  Irish 
life  several  writers  of  that  age  bear  testimony, 
but  here  we  content  ourselves  with  giving  that 
of  two  foreigners  who  were  eyewitnesses  of  what 
they  relate.  These  were  Massari  and  Malasana, 
the  companions  of  the  Nuncio,  Einnucini,  who 
assert  that  the  women  of  Ireland,  despite  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  the  country,  bestowed  their  tender 
care  on  large  families,  and  did  themselves  ^^with 
comeliness  combine  matchless  modesty  and 
piety,  by  which  their  native  attractions  were 
enhanced."* 

Not  only  in  prose  but  in  poetry  we  hear  lauda- 
tory words  bestowed  on  the  women  of  this 
century.  The  sorrowful  and  suffering  remnant 
of  the  bardic  class  made  the  moral  loftiness  and 
beautiful  home  life  of  many  a  lady  the  theme  of 
songful  outpourings.  To  give  but  one  noted 
example,  the  well-known  harpist,  0  'Carolan,  paid 
tribute  in  several  immortal  airs  to  the  nobility 
of  the  women  of  his  day.  And  well  he  might,  for 
the  truest  friend  he  had  was  Madame  Mac 
Dermot,  who  so  loved  the  tuneful  songs  of  the 
blind  minstrel,  that  she  gave  him  every  help  at 
her  command,  and  wept  bitter  tears  when  the 
silence  of  the  grave  enfolded  him. 

In  addition  to  this  evidence  of  womanly  worth 
there  is  some  also  of  an  indirect  nature  which, 


*  The  Irish  People.  E.  Hogan.  SJ.  quot.  p.  55. 

[170] 


Womanly  Morality  and  Honour 


in  no  mean  measure,  testifies  to  the  feminine 
self-respect  of  this  period.  We  have  already  had 
occasion  to  dwell  at  length  on  the  cruelty  exer- 
cised towards  Irish  ladies  in  Cromwellian  days, 
and  pointed  out  how  it  was  in  revenge  for  their 
patriotic  activities.  Here  we  wish  to  cite  one 
noted  instance  of  Cromwellian  barbarism,  which 
seems  to  have  been  dictated  by  the  hellish  desire 
to  expose  to  the  basest  insults  not  merely  pride 
of  race,  but  the  most  delicate  feminine  modesty. 
A  low  scoundrel  named  Hurd,  who  was  governor 
of  Galway  in  1655,  took  fiendish  delight  in  mak- 
ing a  laughing-stock  of  the  women  of  that  city  by 
ordering  them  to  discard  their  Irish  cloaks,  know- 
ing well  they  had  little  else  save  ludicrous  apparel 
to  shelter  them  from  the  public  eye.  Yet,  the 
efforts  they  put  forth  to  shield  their  womanly 
sense  of  propriety,  even  at  the  cost  of  social 
dignity,  must  redound  forever  to  the  fair  name  ,of 
Galway.  On  the  day  subsequent  to  Hurd's  orders 
there  could  be  seen  on  the  streets  ^^most  of  the 
women  appearing  in  men's  coats  —  high-born 
ladies  who  had  been  plundered  of  all  their  prop- 
erty by  the  rapacious  soldiers,  sinking  their  shame 
before  the  gaze  of  the  public,  with  their  ragged  or 
patched  clothes,  and  sometimes  with  embroidered 
table-covers,  or  a  stripe  of  tapestry  torn  from  the 
walls,  or  some  lappets  cut  from  the  bed-curtains, 
thrown  over  their  head  and  shoulders.  Other 
women  covered  their  shoulders  only  with  blankets 


[171] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

or  sheets,  or  table  clothes,  or  any  other  sort  of 
wrapper  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  You 
would  have  taken  your  oath  that  all  Galway  was 
a  masquerade,  the  unrivalled  home  of  scenic 
buffons,  so  irresistibly  ludicrous  were  the  varied 
dresses  of  the  poor  women."*  Kurd's  poisoned 
arrows  reached  the  target  of  their  Irish  pride, 
but  failed  to  do  anything  to  their  modesty  save 
glorify  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  butcheries  and  acts  of 
shame  directed  by  the  Cromwellians  against  Irish 
womanhood,  the  men  of  the  Gael,  whose  souls  were 
harrowed  by  the  sight  of  these  atrocities,  could 
not  get  themselves  to  revenge  their  outraged 
wives  and  daughters  by  disrespectful  treatment 
of  the  ladies  of  the  Saxon.  The  fact  that  in  this 
respect  they  maintained  a  noble  reputation  speaks 
volumes  of  praise  for  their  innate  reverence  for 
womankind,  and  shows  that  this  attitude  must 
have  been  largely  the  resultant  of  a  truly  moral 
and  honourable  native  femininity.  The  testimony 
we  deduce  in  favour  of  this  noble  bearing  of  Irish- 
men we  get  from  the  lips  of  a  Privy  Counsellor  of 
Ireland.  His  statement  is  that  though  unarmed 
men,  women  and  children,  were  killed  in  thousands 
by  command  of  the  Lords  Justices,  the  Irish  sent 
multitudes  of  our  people,  both  before  and  since 
these  cruelties  were  done,  as  well  officers  and 
soldiers  as  women  and  children,  carefully  con- 

*  Cam.  Ever.  ed.  Kelly.  Dub.  1848.  vol.  II.  p.  207. 

[172] 


Womanly  Morality  and  Honour 

veyed,  to  the  sea-ports  and  other  places  of 
safety."* 

Of  the  purity  of  woman's  life  during  the  next 
century  we  are  told  by  men  who  were  strongly 
antagonistic  to  Irish  patriotic  endeavor.  Such 
an  eminent  authority  as  Lecky  has  paid  splendid 
compliments  to  the  moral  integrity  of  eighteenth 
century  Irish  women,  and  the  purifying  and 
elevating  effect  it  had  upon  the  nation.  His 
testimony  is  all  the  more  valuable  seeing  that  his 
highly  reputable  veracity  as  a  historian  forced 
him  to  admit,  despite  his  anti-Catholic  bias,  the 
existence  of  something  admirable  within  a  church 
organisation  which  he  despised.  In  like  manner, 
Arthur  Young,  an  Englishman,  in  his  Tour  of 
Ireland  in  1776,  gave  a  very  favourable  report  of 
womanly  morality.  Amongst  the  gentry,  indeed, 
he  observed  considerable  moral  laxity,  but  the 
general  body  of  the  people  furnished  a  woman- 
hood that  was  exemplary  in  its  fidelity  to  its 
noblest  instincts. 

But  even  in  his  criticism  of  the  gentry,  we  find 
that  Young  was  far  too  severe.  "We  have  already 
glanced  into  the  attractive  home  life  and  shining 
civic  virtues  of  the  women  who  adorned  the  last 
troubled  years  of  this  century,  and  we  must  not 
forget  that  for  the  most  part  they  belonged  to 
upper  class  society,  and  to  the  Protestant  faith 
to  boot.  Some  of  them,  too,  were  the  products  of 
the  city,  and  surely,  if  their  womanly  grandeur 


*  Cromwellian  Settlement.  Prendergast.  Dub.  1875.  p.  71. 

[173] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

survived  the  temptations  of  their  surroundings,  it 
is  not  far-fetched  to  assume  that  they  had,  in  the 
pure  atmosphere  of  the  countryside,  many  a  lady 
of  high  standing  in  society,  with  a  moral  character 
akin  to  theirs. 

Passing  on  to  the  nineteenth  century,  we  find 
ourselves  flooded  with  a  mass  of  material  testify- 
ing to  the  goodness  of  Irish  womanhood.  Volumes 
based  on  that  material  might  be  written,  but  here 
we  can  not  afford,  in  a  general  survey  of  Irish 
women,  to  sin  against  the  rules  of  proportion  by 
giving  relatively  more  space  to  the  ladies  of  this 
period  than  to  those  of  other  days.  In  this  par- 
ticular instance  this  is  especially  true,  because  so 
much  evidence  has  been  produced  in  print  from 
statistics  and  otherwise  to  show  the  morality  of 
Irish  women  of  recent  times,  and  the  world  is  so 
universally  convinced  of  the  fact,  that  there  is 
scarcely  any  need  of  reasserting  its  truth. 

However,  we  cannot  pass  it  over  in  perfect 
silence.  Beginning  with  citations  from  author- 
ities, we  find  Count  d'Aveze,  early  in  the  century, 
noting  in  the  west  the  very  soul  of  honour  and 
queenliness  of  spirit  reflected  in  the  countenances 
of  Irish  women.  ' '  While  contemplating, ' '  he  says, 
^Hhese  poor  women,  for  the  moment,  I  confess 
that  their  titles  of  nobility  seemed  to  radiate  from 
their  brows,  and  I  gave  way  to  the  idea  that  they 
were  really  descended  from  the  blood  of  kings.'' 
Dr.  Brown  pays  a  high  tribute  to  the  Irishwoman's 

[174] 


Womanly  Morality  and  Honour 


religion  and  love  of  children,  and  the  large  fam- 
ilies they  have  reared  and  continue  to  rear  as  an 
incontrovertible  proof  of  both  these  character- 
istics. Dr.  Brownson,  an  American,  attributed  in 
1873  the  strength  of  Irish  manhood  to  a  large 
extent  ^^to  the  pure  and  virtuous  lives  of  the 
women  of  the  race  for  which  they  have  been 
distinguished  in  all  ages. ' '  Elie  Eeclus,  a  French- 
man, asserts  that  there  are  few  countries  of 
Europe  whose  women  possess  so  much  dignity 
and  self-respecf  as  those  of  Ireland.  George 
Petrie,  speaking  in  1821,  says  that  he  saw  in  his 
travels  through  the  island  young  and  unmarried 
women,  with  cloaks  carelessly  disposed  in  pic- 
turesque draperies,  whilst  their  attitude  bespoke 
the  presence  of  youthful  affection  and  innocent 
simplicity."  Finally,  the  Rev.  William  Maxwell, 
a  Protestant  divine,  tells  us  that  in  certain  parts 
of  Ireland  despite  a  rather  abnormal  affection  for 
drink  on  the  part  of  the  men,  deceived  and 
deserted  females  are  seldom  seen." 

This  nobility  of  Irish  women  has  been  the  theme 
of  countless  songs  throughout  the  century.  For 
the  most  part,  it  is  found  interwoven  with  the 
great  basic  virtue  of  love  that  radiates  purity  and 
strength.  Many  pages  might  be  filled  with 
selections  illustrative  of  poetry's  passion  for  this 
theme.  We  are  compelled  to  limit  ourselves  to 
two,  one  of  which  was  written  early  in  the  century, 
and  the  other  quite  recently. 

[175] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

The  first  we  give  is  that  intensely  passionate 
yet  sublime  address  to  love  by  O'Curnain,  entitled 
Loves  Despair. 

^^Love  that  my  life  began, 

Love  that  will  close  life 's  span, 

Love  that  grows  ever  by  love-giving: 

Love  from  the  first  to  last. 

Love  till  all  life  be  past, 

Love  that  loves  on  after  living. 

Bear  all  things  evidence 

Thou  art  my  very  sense, 

My  past,  my  present  and  my  morrow. 

All  else  on  earth  is  crost. 

All  in  the  world  is  lost  — 

Lost  all — but  the  great  love  gift  of  sorrow.'' 

The  woman  that  could  create  in  the  soul  of  a  poet 
such  a  spark  of  heavenly  passion  could  not  but 
be  magnificent. 

The  other  poem  we  take  from  a  book  of  Padraic 
Colum's  verse.  It  is  a  lullaby  that  reveals  the 
world  of  exquisite  tenderness  entombed  in  the 
heart  of  the  twentieth  century  Irish  mother  for  her 
child.  It  shows  how  rigidly  her  eyes  are  rivetted 
on  the  sanctum  of  the  cradle,  and  how  sacred  she 
regards  the  atmosphere  which  surrounds  it,  whilst 
in  other  parts  of  the  world  ^progressive  ideas' 
would  seek  to  rid  it  of  much  of  this  '  superstitious ' 
character  and  exchange  its  'folly'  for  the  more 
up-to-date  demands  of  materialist  eugenics. 


Womanly  Morality  and  Honour 

"0\  Men  from  the  fields! 
Come  gently  within. 
Tread  softly,  softly, 
0  !  Men  coming  in. 

Mavourneen  is  going 
From  me  and  from  you, 
Where  Mary  will  fold  him 
With  mantle  of  blue! 

From  reek  of  the  smoke 
And  cold  of  the  floor. 
And  the  peering  of  things 
Across  the  half-door. 

0 !    Men  from  the  fields ! 
Soft,  softly  come  through 
Mary  puts  around  him 
Her  mantle  of  blue. ' ' 

There  is  also  another  type  of  poetry,  the  poetry 
of  architecture,  that  lives  in  the  sculptured  marble 
and  the  chiseled  beauty  of  stone-work  of  many 
a  sacred  edifice,  that  proclaims  the  grandeur  of 
soul  of  modern  Irish  womanhood.  Rivalling  the 
princely  church-builders  of  old,  who  gave  to 
Ireland  so  many  of  those  abbeys  of  meditative 
loveliness,  are  the  daughters  of  the  Gael,  who  have 
worked  since  the  days  of  Catholic  emancipation 
for  the  construction  of  churches  to  replace  the 
confiscated  and  plundered  ones  of  their  ancestors. 
In  one  sense  they  have  surpassed  the  women  of 
old,  for  unlike  them,  they  are  for  the  most  part 


[177] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


poor  in  the  world's  goods,  though  doubtless  the 
blood  of  many  of  them  has  been  derived  from  a 
noble  ancestry,  whose  broad  lands  the  hireling  and 
the  stranger  possess.  They  could  not,  however, 
be  robbed  of  the  gold  of  generosity  and  the  price- 
less heritage  of  their  faith.  Even  the  Irish  servant 
girl  has  established  an  envious  reputation  for 
herself  as  a  generous  donor  of  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  churches.  Hundreds  of  sacred  edifices  in 
the  English-speaking  world  almost  completely 
owe  their  existence  to  the  hard  won  money  of  the 
humble  daughters  of  Ireland.  They  adorn  not 
only  their  own  land,  but  the  Republic  of  the  Starry 
Flag,  the  continent  of  the  Southern  Cross,  mute 
but  majestic  witnesses  of  the  loyalty  of  Irish 
womanhood  to  the  twin  inspirations  of  the  voice 
of  their  Maker,  and  the  traditions  of  their  race. 

The  zeal  that  has  upreared  so  many  churches 
continues  to  provide  in  abundance  maidens  for  the 
rigours  of  convent  life.  Every  year  hundreds 
dedicate  themselves  to  this  cloistered  existence 
where  their  spiritual  work  for  the  nation's  youth 
is  very  considerable.  Since  this  has  rarely  been 
questioned,  we  see  no  need  for  dwelling  at  length 
on  it  here.  There  are  many,  however,  who  main- 
tain that  the  good  conferred  on  the  people  by 
their  hidden  life  of  religion  is  solely  spiritual,  and 
that  in  it  all  secular  and  civic  usefulness  are  lost. 
With  these  we  decidedly  disagree. 

To  prove  our  contention,  we  will  select  one 
feature  of  secular  life,  the  industrial,  in  which 

[178] 


Womanly  Morality  and  Honour 


Sisterhoods  have  done  solid  patriotic  work  for 
their  country.  In  several  important  centres  Irish 
nuns  are  in  control  of  industries  which  provide 
employment  for  many  hundreds,  for  whom  other- 
wise emigration  would  be  the  only  alternative. 
The  thriving  Youghal  Needlelace  Industry  owes 
its  origin  in  the  famine-swept  days  of  1847  to  the 
noble  efforts  of  Sister  Mary  Anne  Smyth.  Very 
few  who  have  learned  the  work  of  this  institution 
have  ever  been  lured  from  the  services  of  their 
country  to  foreign  climes.   In  the  same  year  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  in  Sligo  started  a  cookery  and 
laundry,  by  which  several  were  rescued  from 
starvation   and   death.     This   institution  still 
flourishes,  and  since  1880  has  added  to  its  work 
the  teaching  of  hosiery-making.    Since  1900  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Louis  have  directed  some  of  the 
energy  of  Bundoran  towards  the  making  of  the 
well-known  Carrickmacross  lace.    Instances  like 
these  might  be  enumerated  for  several  towns  in 
Ireland  to  show  that  the  modern  daughters  of  the 
ancient  faith  are,  in  their  attention  to  the  needs 
of  the  body,  as  well  as  those  of  the  soul,  true  to 
the  tradition  that  has  come  down  to  them  from 
the  great  Abbess  of  Kildare. 

Thus  it  is  apparent  that  the  public  heroism 
which  has  marked  the  story  of  Irish  womanhood 
during  the  last  three  centuries  has  been  the  off- 
spring of  that  silent  heroism  that  has  dwelt  in 
woman's  soul,  whether  by  the  hearth-stone  or  in 
the  cloister.  The  numberless  humble  ones  who,  by 

[179] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


christian  principles  and  industrial  habits,  have 
supplied  the  fuel  that  kept  the  fires  of  a  nation 
burning,  shall  never  be  known,  but  the  work  they 
have  accomplished  is  none  the  less  glorious  than 
that  of  those  whom  the  searchlights  of  publicity 
have  consigned  to  the  everlasting  reverence  of  a 
people. 


[i8o] 


CHAPTER  XI 


Writers  of  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 
Centuries 

WHEN  last  we  parted  with  the  women 
friends  of  letters  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  we  saw  them  en- 
deavoring under  the  blight  of  many  forces 
inimical  to  intellectual  culture  to  keep  up  the  hon- 
ourable tradition  of  their  land  as  patrons  rather 
than  writers  of  literature.  The  confinement  of 
their  literary  efforts  to  this  sphere  was  neces- 
sitated by  the  penal  laws  which  reigned  in  their 
country  and  threatened  with  prosecution  and  pun- 
ishment all  possible  flowerings  of  the  national 
genius.  The  old  learning  which  expressed  the 
soul  of  the  Gael  was  forced  to  seek  a  refuge  in 
the  hedge-school  or  the  secrecy  of  a  few  great 
homes  whilst  England's  brand  of  enlightenment 
arrayed  in  imperial  garb  was  offered  in  its  stead 
to  an  enslaved  people.  All  that  could  be  done 
in  such  circumstances  was  to  prevent  the  national 
soul  from  becoming  the  prey  of  the  imperial 
schoolmasters  by  keeping  it  true  to  its  ancient 
cult  in  the  ^  ^  catacombs. "  This  Ireland  did  and 
we  have  seen  what  a  part  woman  played  in  the 
defensive  struggle. 

[i8i] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


That  work  merited  for  the  feminine  mind  of 
Ireland  an  opportunity  in  later  times  of  display- 
ing what  it  could  achieve  within  the  world  of 
literary  production  which  hitherto  it  was  com- 
pelled merely  to  protect  and  patronise.  How  it 
availed  itself  of  this  opportunity  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  penal  statutes  brought  it  we  are  about  to 
show  by  presenting  to  the  reader  a  procession  of 
the  leading  women  writers  of  the  nineteenth  and 
twentieth  centuries.  In  this  pageant  of  the 
devotees  of  the  pen  there  shall  march  a  body  of 
Irish  ladies  whose  literary  output  bears  favour- 
able comparison  with  that  of  their  masculine 
rivals.  A  few  striking  individuals  in  the  ranks 
of  manhood  have  far  surpassed  the  best  women 
authors  of  Ireland  but  the  average  lady-writer 
can  lay  claim  to  as  meritorious  work  as  the  aver- 
age labourer  within  the  ranks  of  manhood  can 
boast  of. 

Giving  priority  of  position  to  poetry  the  first 
worker  in  that  field  in  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  to  claim  our  attention  is  Lady 
Dufferin.  Her  genius  was  probably  a  heritage  as 
well  as  a  personal  endowment  for  her  grandfather 
was  none  other  than  the  reknowned  Richard 
Brindsley  Sheridan.  Her  poems  were  primarily 
songs  and  every  song  was  a  melodj^  of  tear-jewels 
revealing  the  sad  beauty  of  a  suffering  race.  One 
of  these  that  will  forever  keep  her  memory  fresh 
is  the  Irish  Emigrant,  which  so  simply  and  spon- 
taneously tells  of  the  pangs  of  exile  endured  by 

[182] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

the  children  of  the  Gael  sundered  from  home  and 
kin.  It  does  not  seem  rash  to  state  that  few 
who  have  read  it  in  boyhood  days  do  not  think 
with  tenderness  of  its  creator  and  bless  her  for 
the  reminder  she  gave  them  of  the  loyalty  they 
owe  whether  at  home  or  abroad  to  that  Dark 
Rosaleen  whom  in  impressionable  years  they  Avere 
taught  to  cherish.  Bearing  a  like  message  is 
Terence's  Farewell.  It  mingles  the  pathos  of 
exile  with  sweet  strains  of  love  whilst  its  dancing 
humour  shows  the  everlasting  sunshine  that  no 
sorrow  could  expel  from  the  Irish  heart. 

Resembling  her  muse  was  that  of  Mrs.  Julin 
Crawford  who  was  a  distinguished  daughter  of 
County  Cavan.  From  her  prolific  pen  came  over 
a  hundred  songs  and  amongst  them  that  musical 
gem,  Kathleen  Mavourneen.  For  this  song  alone 
the  poetess  has  earned  the  imdying  thanks  of 
her  people  for  it  can  never  fail  to  charm  them 
whilst  they  treasure  the  gold  of  a  haunting  aii 
and  the  magic  interwoven  with  pure  true  love. 

In  Young  Ireland  days  appeared  Lady  Wilde 
wielding  a  more  robust  and  stormy  pen  in  the 
interests  of  patriotism  than  any  of  those  we  have 
mentioned.  In  early  life  she  had  been  so  com- 
pletely outside  the  pale  of  national  belief  that 
when  she  saw  the  funeral  of  Thomas  Davis  pass- 
ing she  confessed  her  complete  ignorance  of  the 
dead  patriot  to  whom  the  last  honours  of  death 
were  being  paid.  Her  presence  in  Young  Ireland 
ranks  was  therefore  due  to  a  radical  conversion 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


from  the  modes  of  thought  of  her  girlhood.  Like 
most  of  those  great  spirits  which  have  leaped 
from  the  darkness  of  error  into  the  white  light 
of  consciousness  of  fealty  to  a  sacred  faith  and 
ideal  she  carried  with  her  new  creed  an  invincible 
vehemence  and  fire  in  its  advocacy.  The  energy 
and  sincerity  of  the  convert  forged  upon  the 
printed  page  a  supply  of  verbal  weapons  calcu- 
lated to  stir  the  most  phlegmatic  of  her  readers. 

Side  by  side  with  her  worked  Mrs.  Kevin  Izod 
O'Doherty,  ^^Eva"  of  the  Nation  whose  heroism 
we  have  already  referred  to.  This  young  lady's 
patriotic  poems  remind  one  of  that  vigorous 
freshness  and  vitality  which  live  in  the  winds 
that  buffet  the  coast  of  her  native  Galway.  They 
vent  their  clean  fury  on  all  that  is  foul  and  cry 
with  an  elemental  strength  against  the  unjust 
political  structures  that  are  the  handiwork 
of  man. 

With  these  two  stormy  petrels  of  Young  Ireland 
verse  there  was  also  associated  Ellen  Downing, 
^^Mary  of  the  Nation,"  whose  voice  of  poetic  in- 
dignation though  not  as  rugged,  was  none  the  less 
firm  and  determined  than,  theirs.  With  the  calm 
vision  of  the  saint  she  scanned  all  the  mountain 
summits  whereon  patriotic  right  is  seated  and  in 
sweet  but  unfaltering  accents  bade  her  country- 
men toil  through  woe  and  weal  until  all  storms 
vanquished  they  reached  those  serene  heights 
and  could  gaze  down  from  the  majesty  thereof  on 
a  land  where  the  quietude  of  justice  had  resumed 

[184] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

its  sway.  The  atmosphere  of  gracefulness  and 
devout  feeling  upon  which  these  directions  were 
borne  girt  them  round  with  that  strength  in 
appeal  which  always  accompanies  the  dictates  of 
a  pure  and  gentle  yet  indomitable  conscience. 

For  many  years  longer  she  might  have  pro- 
longed her  good  work  but  a  sore  disappointment 
crept  into  her  life  and  dried  up  the  founts  of  her 
inspiration.  One  whom  she  had  loved  with  a  sin- 
cere Irish  love  forsook  her  and  she  left  the 
troubled  ways  of  the  world  for  the  reposeful  soli- 
tude of  the  convent.  There  she  prayed  for  her 
beloved  land  but  never  again  wrote  patriotic 
verse.  ' '  She  put  by  the  lyre  and  in  utter  seclusion 
from  the  world  lingered  for  a  while;  but  ere  long 
the  spring  flowers  blossomed  on  her  grave." 

Advancing  into  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  we  greet  that  poetic  embodiment  of  Irish 
patriotism,  Ethna  Carbery.  Coming  from  the 
land  of  Tyrconnell  where  the  mystery-laden  mists 
so  love  to  hold  in  their  embrace  the  brows  of  the 
mountains  and  endow  them  with  that  Celtic  and 
fairy-like  fascination  which  lives  in  the  grey 
cloudiness  of  Irish  landscapes  her  soul  drank  in 
great  draughts  of  the  secrets  of  her  native  hills 
and  under  the  influence  of  their  intoxication  sang 
in  strains  of  weird  beauty  of  the  old  old  message 
of  Eire  to  her  children.  Nature,  in  fact,  seemed 
to  be  almost  the  sole  source  of  her  patriotic  inspir- 
ation for  she  found  in  everything  in  her  native 
place  a  medium  through  which  to  express  the  irre- 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


pressible  story  of  the  ages  associated  with  it.  She 
appeared  to  feel  the  imminence  of  a  national 
spirit  in  the  very  winds  that  fanned  into  vigour 
her  beloved  Donegal  and  she  took  up  the  pen 
not  to  create  a  beautiful  fabric  of  words  but  to 
find  an  outlet  for  the  patriotic  fire  that  consumed 
her.  That  the  alpha  and  omega  of  her  songful 
inspiration  was  a  sense  of  patriotism  appears 
not  only  in  her  verse  but  in  the  testimony  of  her 
distinguished  husband,  Seumas  Mac  Manus. 
^^From  childhood,"  he  says,  ^^till  the  closing 
hour  every  fibre  of  her  being  vibrated  with  the 
love  of  Ireland.  Before  the  tabernacle  of  poor 
Ireland's  hopes  she  burned  in  her  bosom  a  per- 
petual flame  of  faith.  Her  great  warm  heart 
kept  the  door  of  its  fondest  affection  wide  open 
to  all  who  loved  Ireland — and  in  her  heart  of 
hearts  was  sacredly  cherished  the  memory  of  the 
holy  dead  who  died  for  Ireland." 

As  a  result  a  tender  simplicitj^  and  sincerity 
characterised  all  her  poetry.  Her  folk  songs  were 
unsophisticated  but  this  quality  was  their  pass- 
port to  her  heart  of  a  people  close  to  nature,  a 
people  whom  she  loved  to  fancy  as  fellow-sharers 
with  her  of  a  love  of  their  past  and  their  beauti- 
ful present.  No  checks  of  technique  injured  the 
flow  of  her  feeling.  She  spoke  directly  to  her 
countrjmien  because  she  liked  a  heart  to  heart 
melody.  The  pity  is  that  she  ceased  to  speak  so 
soon  and  that  death  smiled  on  her  at  an  early 
age  and  called  her  from  her  soulful  chantings. 

[186] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

A  prominent  writer  of  tlie  same  generation  as 
Ethna  Carbery  is  Catharine  Tynan  Hinkson. 
Like  the  latter  poetess  she  is  gifted  with  a  fascin- 
ating spontaneity.  As  some  critic  so  well  phrased 
it  she  is  ^^an  authentic  singer  with  the  true  lyric 
note  that  she  seems  to  have  caught  from  the  birds 
of  the  trees."  The  buoyancy  of  the  heart-song 
constantly  abides  in  her  poetry  and  yet  for  all 
its  sunshine  we  miss  in  it  the  sweetness  of  mourn- 
ing for  a  sacred  cause  that  hovers  o'er  the  stanzas 
of  Ethna. 

One,  however  who  reminds  us  more  of  the 
Donegal  songstress  is  Alice  Furlong.  She  is  a 
product  of  the  City  of  Dublin  yet  there  is  little 
of  the  artificial  atmosphere  of  urban  life  in  her 
verse.  She  gives  utterance  to  a  music  as  deli- 
cately pathetic  as  the  sighing  of  the  wind  amougst 
the  reeds  on  the  rim  of  a  bleak  Irish  lake.  Yet 
for  all  its  sadness  it  is  never  foresaken  by  sweet- 
ness. To  her  generation  we  might  also  assign 
Alice  Milligan  who  hails  from  the  North  of 
Ireland.  In  the  land  of  the  0  'Neills  she  was  born 
and  there  she  found  much  of  the  mental  pabulum 
that  resulted  in  the  breezy  ballads  she  lias  given 
to  Ireland. 

Belonging  to  the  latest  flowering  of  Irish  poetry 
are  many  of  the  group  of  young  writers  of  today. 
With  the  exception  of  Dora  Sigerson  who  died 
recently  they  are  relatively  young  and  may  yet 
bequeath  a  large  crop  of  thought  to  their  land. 

Though  death  did  not  find  Dora  Sigerson  in 
[187] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


the  ripeness  of  old  age  slie  left  behind  her  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  verse.  She  was  destined  by 
living  in  England  to  be  divorced  from  the  con- 
stant influence  of  her  native  soil  yet  her  mind 
always  clung  to  the  land  of  her  birth.  A  decidedly 
Celtic  atmosphere  envelops  her  writing  and  this 
is  the  fundamental  reason  of  its  best  literary 
characteristics.  The  fascinating  weirdness  of  her 
poems  revealing  the  doings  of  distinctively  Celtic 
sprites,  the  fairies,  makes  us  forget  her  mere 
technical  deficiencies.  She  may  err  in  metrics 
and  in  style  but  she  handles  with  a  deft  hand  that 
familiarity  which  exists  between  Irish  character 
and  the  invisible  world.  She  makes  us  love  the 
fairies  despite  all  their  elfish  malice  because  slie 
makes  them  so  human  without  robbing  them  of 
their  supernatural  anchorage.  They  are  so  Irish 
in  all  their  ways  that  we  insinctively  forgive  them. 

In  addition  her  diction  is  admirably  adapted 
to  her  subject.  The  rhythmic  swing  of  her  ballads 
is  as  free  and  airy  as  the  goblins  that  are  its 
theme.  The  familiarity  and  homeliness  of  expres- 
sion with  which  they  reach  out  to  the  heart  are 
akin  to  that  atmosphere  of  kindly  relations  which 
they  seek  to  generate  in  us  towards  the  world  of 
the  spiritual. 

Very  close  in  character  to  the  poetry  of  Dora 
Sigerson  is  that  of  Nora  Hopper.  It  has  a  like 
clinging  mysteriousness  of  thought  whilst  the 
weird  apparel  of  its  words  intensifies  the  uncan- 
niness  of  its  conceptions.    Though  extensive  the 

[i88] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

fecundity  that  characterises  it  it  does  not  seem  to 
lower  the  standard  of  its  poetic  quality.  It  is 
always  as  fresh  as  the  dew  on  an  Irish  hillside 
and  tenderness  and  gems  of  fancy  seldom  abandon 
it.  No  less  an  authority  than  Mr.  Yeats,  perhaps 
Ireland's  greatest  singer  in  the  English  language, 
has  acclaimed  her  Ballads  of  Prose''  as  an 
adeptly  woven  fabric  of  mystic  thought  and 
symbol.  ''They  delight  us,"  he  says,  ''by  their 
mystery,  as  ornament  full  of  lines,  too  deeply  in- 
terwoven to  bother  us  with  discoverable  secret, 
delights  us  with  its  mystery;  and  as  ornament  is 
full  of  strange  trees  and  flowers  that  were  once 
the  symbols  of  great  religions,  and  are  now  mix- 
ing one  with  the  other,  and  changing  into  new 
shapes,  this  book  is  full  of  old  beliefs  and  stories, 
mixing  and  changing  in  an  enchanted  dream." 

For  the  next  writer  we  go  to  the  County  of 
Antrim.  This  is  Moira  O'Neill.  She  has  given 
pleasant  glimpses  of  the  peasant  soul  of  Ireland 
and  she  has  not  spoiled  their  sincerity  by  any 
vulgarity  of  literary  artifice.  But  Irish  literature 
is  most  of  all  indebted  to  her  for  her  masterpiece, 
"  Corrymeela, "  where  she  sings  with  a  lambent 
fluency  of  the  mysteries  of  the  dawn  reminiscent 
of  the  free  limpid  progress  of  her  native  hill- 
rimmed  rivulets  in  the  Glens  of  Antrim. 

And  last  of  all  treading  the  ways  of  mysticism 
come  Susan  Mitchell  and  Ella  Young.  They  have 
gazed  into  the  wondrous  worlds  which  George 

[189] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 

Russell  has  pointed  out  and  more  distinctly  than 
any  of  their  sisters  of  the  pen  have  attempted  to 
fashion  visions  for  themselves  like  unto  his.  With 
these  we  part  with  the  daughters  of  poesy  and 
turn  to  those  who  were  content  to  labour  in  the 
literature  of  prose. 

In  this  department  of  letters,  especially  romance, 
Irish  women  in  modern  days  have  climbed  into 
high  favour  and  carried  off  many  laurels  from  the 
men.  In  this  respect,  too,  it  is  our  belief  they  have 
displayed  far  more  talent  than  those  of  their  sisters 
who  used  poetry  as  a  medium  of  expression. 

In  discussing  these  ladies  we  can  make  a  very 
dignified  start  with  Maria  Edgeworth  who  is  the 
doyen  of  them  all  and  as  a  novelist  holds  a  high 
place  amongst  kindred  writers  of  the  English 
speaking  world  of  her  day.  Her ' '  Castle  Rackrent ' ' 
with  its  beaming  humour  cleverly  mingled  with 
exquisite  pathos  is  generally  recognised  as  her 
masterpiece.  Looking  at  her  work  as  a  whole  she 
accomplished  for  the  Ireland  of  her  day  som^e- 
thing  worthy  of  her  comparison  with  what  Scott 
achieved  for  his  native  land.  The  folk-lore  and 
feelings  of  her  country  she  made  tribuary  to 
her  pen  and  utilised  them  to  produce  works  of 
high  artistic  value.  So  self-sacrificing  was  she 
and  so  sacred  a  conception  had  she  of  her  literary 
duty  towards  her  native  land  that  she  refused  her 
hand  in  marriage  to  one  whom  she  deeply  loved 
that  her  activity  as  an  author  might  not  be 
checked.   She  sacrificed  him  and  everything  else 


[190] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

that  her  heart  desired  when  they  were  deemed 
inimical  to  the  interests  of  her  country. 

She  was  not,  however,  a  solitary  prose  luminary 
in  her  age.  There  was  Lady  Morgan  who  worked 
at  fiction  and  wrote  novels  that  were  fearless  and 
honest  and  rooted  in  a  soul  that  loved  its  country. 
She  was  one  of  the  best  literary  supporters  that 
the  Emancipator  had.  To  the  early  nineteenth  cen- 
tury Dublin  gave  Anna  Jameson,  who  was  the  au- 
thor of  some  tales  and  a  vigorous  pen  exponent  of 
the  rights  of  women.  Caroline  Norton  who  laboured 
so  arduously  for  the  betterment  of  woman's  status 
and  the  condition  of  the  poor  was  a  romantic 
writer  of  high  standing  and  in  this  sphere  dis- 
played a  power  of  repartee  that  w^as  not  surpassed 
by  her  zeal  as  a  doer  of  good  deeds.  From  the 
Marble  City  came  Mary  Costello  to  whom  Ireland 
is  indebted  for  sketches  of  Dublin  which  are  vivid 
and  worthy  of  remembrance.  Lismore  was  hon- 
oured by  being  the  birthplace  of  Julia  Crotty  who 
attained  distinction  by  portrayals  of  Irish  char- 
acter. Her  pictures  sometimes  caused  offense  to 
sensitive  readers  but  she  quailed  not  before 
criticism  for  she  justified  herself  on  the  grounds 
of  realism.  Mrs.  Sadlier  in  her  enthusiasm  for 
the  moral  uplift  of  her  countrymen  used  with  con- 
siderable success  the  novel  as  a  means  to  attain 
her  end.  Castle  Daly,  one  of  the  best  of  Irish 
stories  owes  its  existence  to  Annie  Keary. 

We  now  pass  on  to  a  group  of  novelists  who 
primarily  belong  to  a  later  period.   The  first  we 

[191] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


select  for  consideration  is  Jane  Barlow  whose 
name  is  a  very  respectable  one  in  Irish  literature. 
In  her  work  there  gleams  a  wealth  of  peasant 
character  that  bespeaks  marked  gentleness  and 
simplicity  on  the  part  of  the  writer.  Silvered 
streaks  of  humour  and  golden  veins  of  pathos  are 
everywhere  in  scintillating  evidence.  A  wit  that 
leaps  forth  from  picturesque  and  musical  lan- 
guage is  constantly  present  to  endow  with  a  peren- 
nial freshness  the  creations  of  the  artist.  To  sum 
up  in  the  words  of  George  Green  in  the  Treasury 
of  Poetry,  ^4t  may  be  doubted,  indeed,  whether 
anyone  has,  to  the  same  extent,  sounded  the  depths 
of  Irish  character  m  the  country  districts  and 
touched  so  many  chords  of  sympathy,  humour  and 
pathos  as  Jane  Barlow." 

With  an  object  kindred  to  that  of  Miss  Barlow, 
Elisabeth  Blackburne  Casey  devoted  herself  to 
romantic  literature.  Amid  the  pasture  lands  of 
Meath  she  found  many  interesting  peasant 
subjects  for  her  pen.  In  the  manipulation  of  these 
she  exhibited  certain  dramatic  powers  which  lent 
a  striking  vitality  to  her  tales.  Coupling  with  this 
an  attractive  and  picturesque  background,  she 
succeeded  in  producing  sketches  of  the  peasant 
soul  endowed  with  uncommon  brilliancy  and 
vividness. 

At  a  distance  from  pastoral  influences  in  the 
City  of  Dublin  Mrs.  Blundell  first  saw  light. 
However,  as  she  advanced  in  years,  she  found 

[192] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

herself  in  surroundings  more  congenial  to  her 
nature.  She  left  the  madding  crowds,"  and  the 
places  where  the  artificial  and  material  knock  so 
loudly  at  the  gates  of  the  heart  for  the  romantic 
and  mystery-haunted  highlands  of  Donegal. 
There,  despite  the  ravages  of  a  long  and  painful 
disease,  she  held  her  ear  ever  open  to  receive  the 
whisperings  of  wonder.  The  pleasure  that  these 
messages  from  a  marvel  world  afforded  her  she 
told  of  in  sweet  tales  brimming  over  with  Arabian- 
like magic.  She  wrote  them  especially  for  the 
perusal  of  children  who  are  always  so  near  to 
the  wonder-world  and  who  wreathe  with  glory 
^'that  never  was  on  land  or  sea"  what  to  mature 
eyes  seem  the  most  commonplace  realities. 

In  a  part  of  the  country,  similar  to  Donegal 
because  of  its  remarkable  immunity  from  the 
artificialities  of  life,  did  Emily  Lawless  find  food 
for  her  novels.  Eevelling  in  the  gaunt,  wild 
scenery  of  West  Clare  and  Galway,  she  extracted 
from  the  granite-sheathed  hills  and  the  wind- vexed 
precipices  material  for  the  construction  of  some 
of  the  best  novels  that  Ireland  possesses.  Here, 
in  this  hinterland  of  the  Gael,  she  witnessed  how 
close  the  heart  of  man  was  to  the  throbbings  of 
nature's  heart,  and  what  a  harmony  prevailed 
between  them.  Into  her  novels  she  introduced 
with  marked  success  this  intimacy  between  man 
and  nature  to  which  she  attached  the  weird  adorn- 
ment of  the  grand  terrors  of  the  West  mingling 
dramatically  with  its  embracing  pity. 


[193] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


In  the  same  inspiring  West  did  Eosa  MulhoUand 
find  fuel  for  the  fire  of  a  writer's  soul.  From  the 
mountains  there  came  to  her  the  voice  of  a 
romance,  coupled  with  that  message  of  mysticism 
that  gives  a  distinctly  religious  tinge  to  her  writ- 
ings. Yet,  for  all  her  hankering  after  the  mys- 
terious, she  loves  a  serene  simplicity,  which  seems 
to  have  been  dictated  by  her  love  for  children,  for 
whom  she  intended  so  many  of  her  books. 

Rosa  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  writers  of 
romantic  works.  A  few  others  still  remain  who 
devoted  themselves  to  a  literature  of  a  different 
type,  and  to  these  we  must  devote  a  few  pages, 
before  our  final  farewell  to  women  literateurs  of 
Ireland. 

In  dramatic  literature  there  is  a  distinguished 
representative  in  Lady  Gregory,  who  has  done  as 
much,  perhaps,  for  the  Irish  stage,  as  anyone  in 
the  history  of  Ireland.  Her  name  must  be  forever 
linked  with  that  revival  in  dramatic  art,  which 
began  Avith  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Living  in  the  western  Gaelthacht,  she 
was  closely  in  touch  with  that  folklore  which  pro- 
vided material  for  the  most  successful  type  of 
play  that  the  dramatic  movement  has  produced. 
Utilising  this,  she  has  produced  stage  literature 
of  high  merit.  To  the  sphere  of  a  writer,  however, 
she  has  not  limited  herself.  She  has  worked 
zealously  for  the  success  of  the  Abbey  Theatre, 
and  has  never  failed  to  encourage  all  aspiring 
writers  who  are  endeavoring  to  produce  dramatic 


[194] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

literature  that  might  lend  lustre  to  that  playhouse 
and  their  country. 

In  the  more  sober  subject  of  history,  Sarah 
Atkinson  displayed  in  periodical  literature  a  mind 
of  no  mean  calibre.  In  her  footsteps  has  followed 
Mrs.  John  Richard  Green,  who  is  a  worthy  wife 
of  a  distinguished  husband,  and  one  of  the  most 
scholarly  historians  that  Ireland  has  produced. 
Her  contributions  to  the  story  of  her  land  reveal 
a  cultured  intellect,  steeped  in  the  lore  of  the  past. 
For  the  economic  and  educational  department  of 
their  history  which  had  been  so  badly  neglected. 
Irishmen  are  especially  indebted  to  the  labours 
of  Mrs.  Green. 

Another  lady,  Frances  Power  Cobbe,  invaded 
ei,  realm  that  is  closely  associated  with  that  of  the 
historian.  She  delved  into  the  problems  of 
sociology,  and  herein  won  considerable  respect 
for  herself  by  the  able  manner  in  which  she  cham- 
pioned the  rights  of  women  in  public  life.  She  did 
this,  too,  through  the  medium  of  a  style  that  was 
fresh  and  attractive.  Thus,  the  readable  character 
of  her  writings,  as  well  as  the  interesting  material 
they  contained,  won  for  her  a  very  large  circle 
of  readers. 

In  a  sphere  partly  historical  and  partly  liter- 
ary, three  other  ladies  laboured  with  considerable 
success.  Eleanor  Hull  has  done  much  for  early 
romantic  history,  and  her  work  on  the  ancient 
tales  has  largely  contributed  to  their  being  more 
sympathetically  and  widely  known.   Miss  Stokes, 


[195] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


the  sister  of  the  well-known  authority  on  Celtic 
literature,  has  done  a  good  deal  for  the  cause  of 
Gaelic  scholarship.  In  Irish  scenery  and  its  his- 
torical associations,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Hall  found  especial 
interest,  and  her  work  in  this  respect  has  added 
largely  to  that  fascination  which  the  physical 
contour  of  a  country,  viewed  in  the  light  of  the 
past,  always  holds  for  a  nation  that  reveres  the 
great  days  gone  by. 

But,  the  most  sublime  path  of  all  was  reserved 
for  the  literary  foot-prints  of  Agnes  Mary  Clarke. 
Clad  in  the  robes  of  the  astronomer,  she  sought 
the  mysteries  of  the  firmament.  In  this  capacity 
she  exhibited  an  acute  power  of  observation,  for 
her  thought  was  characterised  by  a  profundity 
and  accurateness  that  shone  to  fullest  advantage 
through  a  clear  medium  of  expression.  Yet,  for 
all  the  depths  plumbed  by  her  mind,  she  managed 
to  speak  of  her  scientific  researches  in  a  manner 
that  was  highly  attractive. 

We  can  not  let  the  curtain  down  on  the  women 
devotees  of  literature  without  mentioning  the 
Countess  of  Blessington.  Though  a  novelist  of 
some  note,  she  primarily  deserves  to  be  remem- 
bered for  the  kindness  she  bestowed  on  all  who 
loved  a  life  of  letters.  Belonging  to  hospitable 
Tipperary,  she  was  as  noble  an  ornament  of  that 
county  as  was  Margaret  O'Connor  in  mediaeval 
days  of  the  principality  of  Offaly.  For  fourteen 
years  her  spirit  of  hospitality  welcomed  to  her 
home  wit  and  genius,  whenever  they  sought  an 


[196] 


Writers  of  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Centuries 

entry.  From  beyond  the  seRSy  Si&  well  as  from 
different  parts  of  her  own  land,  learned  men  were 
lured  to  the  pleasing  atmosphere  of  her  home.  In 
the  words  of  Mr.  Proctor,  ^^men  famous  for  art 
and  science  in  distant  lands  sought  her  friend- 
ship, and  the  historians  and  scholars,  the  poets 
and  the  wits,  and  painters  of  her  own  country 
found  an  unfailing  welcome  in  her  ever  hospitable 
home. ' '  She  maintained  in  the  nineteenth  century 
that  tradition  of  devotion  to  the  elevated  and  im- 
materialistic  concept  of  civilisation,  which  is  the 
only  explanation  of  what  Mr.  G.  K.  Chesterton 
calls  the  ^miracle'  of  Ireland's  survival  as  a 
nation. 


CHAPTER  XII 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 

HITHERTO  we  have,  for  the  most  part, 
devoted  our  attention  to  that  section  of 
Irish  womanhood  which  has  come  prom- 
inently before  the  public  eye;  we  now  intend  to 
swing  the  censer  of  praise  before  the  shrine  of 
the  multitudes  of  great  ones  who,  in  the  secret 
places  of  their  quiet  homes,  keep  kindled  the  fires 
that  contribute  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  nation's 
life. 

It  is  a  truism,  yet  one  that  never  grows  stale 
by  repetition,  that  as  the  family  is,  so  the  nation 
shall  be.  If  this  is  true  of  nations  that  live  the 
most  artificial  of  lives  and  do  greatest  violence  to 
family  traditions,  it  is  especially  verifiable 
amongst  a  people  like  the  Irish  who  are  still  so 
close  to  nature,  and  considerably  influenced  in 
their  national  activity  by  the  precepts  and  cus- 
toms of  their  sires.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  the 
force  that  moulds  in  such  a  community  the  life 
of  the  family  possesses  an  extraordinary  potency 
to  shape  the  destiny  of  the  nation.  Such  a  force 
we  believe  to  be  primarily  the  property  of  Irish 
mothers. 

The  Irish  mother  is  as  true  to  her  God-given 

[198] 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 

nature  as  any  that  breathes  on  earth,  for  she  dedi- 
cates herself  mth  the  most  sacrosanct  sense  of 
fidelity  to  the  most  essential  work  of  motherhood, 
the  care  of  the  child. 

This  solicitude  for  her  offspring  is  most  in 
evidence  in  the  Irish  mother 's  clinging  love  of  the 
cradle.  She  gives  personal  attention  to  the  child 
at  the  most  troublesome  stage  of  its  existence,  and, 
wealthy  or  poor,  rarely  deems  any  other  hand 
than  her  omi  worthy  of  watching  by  the  infant's 
cot.  And  what  a  care  she  lavishes  on  the  little 
one  that  God  has  sent  her!  Who  that  has  ever 
heard  an  Irish  mother  whisper  in  tenderest  accents 
her  love  to  her  little  one,  or  fling  the  caresses  of 
her  dream-song  round  the  infant  fancy,  can  fail 
to  realise  what  a  world  of  maternal  affection 
dwells  within  her  bosom?  She  has  the  sweetest 
lullabies  that  any  mother  can  boast  of  wherewith 
to  lull  to  sleep  the  baby  mind.  Her  slumber  songs 
are  so  sleep-inducing,  that  rarely  does  childish 
restlessness  fail  to  surrender  to  their  crooning 
magic.  For  this  reason  she  seldom  needs  those 
artificial  methods  of  the  more  ^cultured'  mothers 
of  humanity  to  hand  over  her  child  to  the 
strengthening  repose  of  slumberland.  She  gives 
a  peace  by  the  sheer  overflow  of  her  maternal 
feeling  and  the  music  of  her  soul  to  her  infant  care 
that  nothing  else  can  provide. 

This  solicitude  for  the  infant  she  may  have  to 
manifest  for  many  a  year,  for  her  affection  for 
children  is  not  alienated  as  her  married  life 


[199] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


advances  by  the  frivolous  objects  that  entertain 
the  foolish  attention  of  so  many  women  in 
countries  where  science  is  developed  to  the  detri- 
ment of  morality.  Yet,  she  fears  not  the  trouble 
that  every  new  child-gift  from  the  Almighty  may 
occasion  her,  for  she  has  not  succumbed  to  any 
materialistic  creed  that  cherishes  physical  comfort 
more  than  the  dictates  of  duty.  She  knows  the 
value  of  the  child  soul,  which  is  the  most  precious 
thing  that  heaven  could  give  to  earth.  As  a  true 
christian  she  knows  the  necessity  and  worth  of 
self-sacrifice  as  a  means  of  attaining  any  end  that 
is  great  and  sublime,  whether  in  the  spiritual  or 
temporal  order.  Accordingly,  she  understands 
that  if  she  is  to  entertain  the  hope  of  having  sons 
and  daughters  who  shall  be  her  pride  and  her 
glory,  she  must  be  ready  to  endure  the  suffering, 
mental  and  physical,  that  is  associated  with  the 
rearing  of  a  family.  This  is  distinctly  her  spirit, 
and  it  rarely  fails  to  reap  the  reward  of  the 
splendid  self-denial  on  which  it  is  based.  The 
average  Irish  family  is  large,  and  seldom  disloyal 
to  the  one  mainly  responsible  for  its  moral  and 
physical  well-being. 

Next  to  the  religious  motive,  some  merely 
natural  attributes  of  the  Celt  contribute  to  the 
strength  of  the  maternal  instinct  in  the  Irish 
woman.  The  element  of  the  affectionate  is  uni- 
versally admitted  to  be  one  of  the  leading  con- 
stituents of  Irish  character.  It  manifests  itself 
in  a  thousand  different  ways,  and  largely  explains 

[200] 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 


the  position  of  universal  esteem  which  the  Irish 
race  enjoys  amongst  every  people  that  feels  its 
warmth.  If  this  is  true  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  it 
is  decidedly  so  of  its  womanhood,  which  finds  in 
motherhood  an  opportunity  of  expressing  the 
strongest  and  purest  human  love  that  warms  our 
terrestrial  globe.  Even  the  terms  of  endearment 
with  which  she  addresses  her  child  bespeak  in  the 
Irish  mother  the  refined  and  intense  passion  which 
consumes  her.  Such  love-expressions  as  'pulse 
of  my  heart/  'vein  of  my  heart,'  'my  share  of  the 
world  thou  art'  reveal  the  shrine  that  maternal 
love  possesses  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  Irish 
mother's  being.  This  affectionate  bent  of  her 
nature  is  reenf  orced  by  her  racial  imaginativeness 
and  romanticism.  The  possibilities  that  the  future 
holds  for  the  child,  and  the  dreams  she  weaves 
round  its  developing  mind  very  often  provide  her 
with  a  powerful  incentive  to  bestow  on  it  her  most 
jealous  care.  Then,  she  has  that  intense  Celtic 
pride  of  family,  which  urges  her  to  rear  children 
who  shall  be  worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  those 
who  came  before  her.  And  finally,  she  is  endowed 
with  an  instinctive  conservatism  which  is  a  strong 
barrier  against  all  temptations  to  abandon  the 
home  for  more  'up-to-date'  activities  outside  it. 

This  love  of  the  home  makes  her  dwelling-place 
not  a  mere  inhabitable  edifice  of  brick  and  mortar 
and  furniture.  It  is  not  so  much  mere  property, 
to  be  arbitrarily  bartered  for  money.  It  entombs 


[201] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


a  something  which  cannot  be  purchased.  It  is,  in 
a  word,  a  home  in  the  truest,  and,  if  you  will,  the 
most  old-fashioned  sense  of  the  word.  It  is  the 
centre  of  all  the  most  treasured  memories  of  her 
own  and  her  family's  life.  It  has  wound  itself  so 
intimately  into  her  fancy,  and  has,  so  to  speak, 
absorbed  so  much  of  the  family  soul  by  constant 
association  mth  it,  that  it  cannot  be  abandoned 
without  doing  violence  to  an  integral  part  of  the 
mother's  spiritual  existence.  Thus  does  her  innate 
conservatism  transform  the  prosaic  house  of  stone 
and  mortar  into  the  poetic  and  spiritual  entity 
called  the  home,  and  bind  her  heart  to  it  by  the 
strongest  of  bonds. 

Where  such  devotion  to  the  home  exists,  there 
must  be  present  a  high  standard  of  morality.  This 
is  certainly  realised  in  the  feminine  head  of  the 
Irish  household.  Her  devotion  to  religion  is  re- 
vealed in  several  ways,  to  only  a  few  of  which  we 
can  here  pay  attention.  She  is  strongly  attached 
to  prayer.  In  fact,  her  daily  existence  is,  to  a 
large  extent,  immersed  in  an  atmosphere  of 
prayer.  Prayerfulness  is  manifest  in  most  of  her 
daily  actions.  During  the  day  her  ordinary  con- 
versation is  shot  through  and  through  with  the 
names  of  things  sacred.  And  when  the  special 
time  for  prayer  arrives  at  night,  the  whole  family 
must  faithfully  assemble,  to  lay  the  wreathe  of 
the  Eosary  at  Mary's  feet.  Not  content  with  this, 
she  arranges  a  program  of  prayers  at  the  con- 

[202] 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 

elusion  of  the  Eosary,  which  begs  the  Creator's 
aid  for  the  entire  world,  and  especially  for  those 
in  the  throes  of  suffering  and  distress.  Friends 
and  enemies,  poor  and  rich,  christians  and  un- 
believers, all  find  themselves  commended  to  the 
mercy  of  the  Most  High,  by  the  pitiful,  devotional 
soul  of  the  Irish  mother. 

And  the  virtues  she  exalts  in  her  prayers  she 
strives  to  practise.  She  is  no  mechanical  utterer 
of  pious  phrases.  She  walks  along  a  high  path 
of  virtue,  especially  that  of  purity.  She  is  a  model 
of  modesty,  and  her  marked  devotion  to  her  mar- 
riage vow  saves  Ireland  from  those  disgraceful 
scenes  which  disfigure  the  moral  and  social  life  of 
so  many  other  countries.  Not  only  has  her  husband 
no  cause  for  complaint  in  this  respect,  but  her 
uprightness  is  a  considerable  factor  in  the  preser- 
vation of  her  partner 's  moral  integrity.  Drink  is 
the  greatest  vice  with  which  the  Irishman  has  to 
contend,  and  many  an  Irish  husband  has  been  kept 
from  rushing  over  its  precipice  to  destruction  by 
the  angel  efforts  of  a  good  wife.  Oftentimes  it 
occasions  the  wife  a  veritable  white  martyrdom 
to  accomplish  this,  but  she  considers  the  victory 
gained  a  sufficient  recompense  for  the  sufferings 
endured. 

Still  more  beneficial,  perhaps,  is  her  influence 
over  her  sons  and  daughters,  for  it  is  reenforced 
by  an  authority  which  they  dare  not  disrespect. 
Oftentimes  her  sons  remain  with  her  until  they 
are  mature  men,  for  late  marriages  have  become 


[203] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


the  custom  in  Ireland,  yet  they  are  always  her 
^ boys'  and  follow  her  guidance  with  a  boyish 
instinct.  Very  likely,  it  is  this  submission  to  long 
maternal  tutelage  that  engenders  more  than  aught 
else  in  the  Irishman  that  deep-seated  respect  for 
womanhood,  of  which  his  nation  is  so  proud.  For 
her  daughters,  she  is  a  worthy  example  of 
womanly  modesty  and  piety.  Her  vigilance  care- 
fully shields  them,  and  many  liberties  that  are 
ordinarily  granted  to  young  ladies  of  other  coun- 
tries are  denied  these.  Their  relations  with  young 
men  are  most  rigidly  scrutinised,  for  the  maternal 
instinct  treasures  most  of  all  that  virtue  that  has 
been  the  glory  of  the  daughters  of  the  Gael  for 
all  time.  Assuredly,  when  we  think  of  the  honour 
and  purity  of  Irish  youth,  we  cannot  fail  to  see 
how  nobly  the  Irish  mother  fulfills  the  high 
mission  entrusted  to  her  by  Providence.  We  can 
not  resist  endorsing  the  beautiful  tribute  paid 
the  Irish  mother  by  a  recent  writer,  when  he  says : 
^^She  is  the  foremost  among  the  hidden  saints  of 
earth.  A  follower  of  Christ,  whose  cloister  is 
within  the  four  walls  of  the  home.  A  lover  of 
Christ,  whose  little  kingdom  comprises  the 
treasured  souls  whom  God  has  given  her  to  guide. 
A  ruler  of  Christ,  who  draws  her  subjects  to  her 
by  sanctity  and  love.  Her  told-worn  hands  that 
clasp  the  old,  brown  rosary,  are  eloquent  of 
strength  to  seize  and  lift  to  good  all  souls  they 
meet;  her  lips  are  moulded  to  lines  of  peace  by 
years  of  unending  prayer,  and  murmured  benisons 

[204] 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 

over  sleeping  babes ;  upon  her  brow  eternal  calm 
and  resignation  sit  enthroned."* 

If  the  Irish  mother's  love  for  the  beauty  of  the 
moral  order  is  so  intense  and  sublime,  her  admira- 
tion for  the  God-given  love  of  country  is  none  the 
less  insistent.  Today  she  is  manifesting  a  heroism 
in  the  cause  of  her  land  that  bids  fair  to  emulate 
that  of  Irish  matrons  in  the  most  trying  days  of 
the  past.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  she  manifested 
a  fortitude  that  might  grace  the  story  of  Ireland 
in  the  days  of  its  greatest  sacrifices.  In  that 
glorious  week  of  1916,  when  the  husband  and  son 
went  forth  against  overwhelming  odds  to  battle 
for  their  country,  Irish  wives  and  mothers  offered, 
with  sorrow-rent  and  dauntless  hearts,  their  men 
to  the  great  mother  of  them  all,  the  Poor  Old 
Woman.  Many  of  these  husbands  and  sons  made 
the  supreme  sacrifice  of  their  lives,  and  hundreds 
of  them  endured  the  tortures  of  a  prison  existence, 
whilst  their  women-folk  had  to  bear  the  terrible 
anguish  of  the  mind  as  they  pondered,  in  the  lone- 
liness of  their  homes,  on  the  miseries  suffered  by 
their  patriot  men.  Yet,  they  could  not  be  broken, 
and  though  natural  sorrow  played  havoc  with  their 
spirits,  their  will  to  stand  by  the  manhood  of  their 
homes  remained  unconquerable.  And,  at  this 
moment,  their  heroic  patience  and  encouragement 
are  some  of  the  greatest  aids  that  a  manhood 
struggling  against  a  militaristic  tyranny  could 
have.  In  the  martyrdom  of  the  spirit  which  they 


*  The  Soul  of  Ireland.  W.  J.  Lockington.  SJ.  p.  110. 

[205] 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 

nobly  bear,  their  men  find  a  strength  and  inspira- 
tion that  nerve  them  for  any  martyrdom  of  the 
body  which  foreign  despotism  may  impose  upon 
them. 

From  the  mothers  of  to-day  we  turn  for  a 
moment  to  their  daughters,  to  see  how  the  seed 
of  maternal  example  and  teaching  produces  fruit 
in  their  character. 

The  young  women  of  Ireland  can  perhaps  carry 
off  the  premier  prize  of  the  world  for  maidenly 
modesty  and  purity.  They  are  as  bountifully 
dowered  as  the  daughters  of  any  land  with  those 
natural  gifts  which,  if  not  properly  used,  prove 
seriously  detrimental  to  morality.  They  are  as 
attractive,  physically,  as  any  that  breathe,  for  the 
Divine  Artist  has  endowed  their  forms  with  a 
beauty  that  cannot  be  surpassed  anywhere.  They 
have  as  keen  a  sense  of  the  joie  de  vivre,  and  as 
generous  a  fund  of  the  sunniness  of  life  as  can 
be  claimed  by  the  girlhood  of  any  nation.  Yet, 
they  know  where  to  set  up  the  barriers  between 
true  and  false  pleasure,  and  rarely  seek  enjoyment 
at  the  expense  of  morality.  There  is  a  lower  per- 
centage of  illegitimate  births  in  Ireland  than  in 
an}^  other  country  in  the  world.  Whenever  a  child 
is  born  outside  wedlock,  so  shocked  is  the  public 
sense  by  the  very  unusual  occurrence,  that  it 
brands  with  an  irreparable  stigma,  and,  to  a  large 
extent,  excommunicates  the  woman  guilty  of  the 
crime.    The  Irish  girl's  most  prevalent  mode  of 

[206] 


The  Women  of  the  Gael 


amusement  is  a  type  of  dance  that,  perhaps  of  all 
the  dances  in  the  world,  is  the  most  innocent, 
though  inferior  to  none  in  vigour  and  variety.  She 
takes  part  in  this  solely  to  find  an  outlet  for  the 
music  of  her  soul,  and  the  Celtic  energy  that 
hungers  for  the  poetry  of  rythmic  movement. 
When  she  dreams  of  a  partner  in  life,  the  romantic 
and  imaginative  in  her  calls  forcibly  for  the  pres- 
ence of  the  aesthetic  in  the  future  husband,  but 
her  primary  desire  is  that  her  bridegroom  have 
a  fair  heart  and  an  honourable  conscience.  She 
longs  with  a  feminine  longing  for  attractive 
apparel,  but  her  dress  must  not  sacrifice  a  sense 
of  maidenly  decorum  for  the  false  allurements  that 
unbecoming  fashions  may  hold. 

As,  like  her  mother,  the  Irish  maiden  is  moral, 
so,  like  her  too,  she  is  patriotic.  She  is  an  active 
member  of  many  societies,  the  avowed  aim  of 
which  is  the  emancipation  of  her  country.  She  is 
a  prominent  element  in  the  Gaelic  League,  that 
has  done  and  continues  to  do,  so  much  for  the 
preservation  of  the  ancient  Gaelic  tongue,  for  the 
slain  industries  of  Ireland,  and  for  the  resurrected 
vitality  of  the  manners  and  customs  that  sprang 
from  the  genius  of  the  Irish  Celt.  She  is  a  staunch 
supporter  of  Sinn  Fein,  and  is  always  ready,  as 
she  was  at  Easter  Week,  to  offer  the  testimony  of 
her  blood  to  prove  the  creed  that  is  in  her.  She 
is,  in  a  word,  as  true  to-day  to  the  ancient  heritage 
of  her  people  as  any  generation  of  women  who 


[207] 


The  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  Today 


have  preceded  her,  and  clings  as  staunchly  to  the 
century-long  hope  that,  when  freedom  abides 
again  with  Eire,  its  benisons  will  come  in  full 
measure  to  those  who  have  been  and  ever  shall  be, 
loyal    Women  of  the  Gael.'' 

THE  END 


[208] 


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